Organization: Institut Armand Frappier
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.stat-l
Date:         Fri, 16 Oct 1992 00:34:57 EDT
Comments:     Adresse alternative de l'envoyeur: <IMR2027@UQUEBEC>
From:         Eduardo Franco <IMR2027@IAF.UQUEBEC.CA>
Subject:      Survival analysis software

Rich Thompson, from Colorado U, wrote:

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SURVIVAL SOFTWARE (in addition to the routines in SPSS and SAS) Please note
that all prices are either rounded or approximate.   These are all PC programs.

I have checked on these:

BMDP has SOLO (basic stats - $250) and a SURVIVAL add-on ($150).
BMDP is the glossy marketed version of NCSS which is more recently updated.
NCSS is $125 and is currently selling with 3 add-ons for another $125 -
students then get a %50 discount.  Available from Dr. Jerry Hintze (801)
546-3097. I did purchase this package.  Arrived in two days.  Very short
learning curve.  Good documentation.  Works quite nicely!

STATA has some built in survival capabilities and "excellent graphics".
1-800-STATAPC   Academic version is about $165.  They also make Intercooled for
about $100 more. (same as STATA but UNIX performance requiring at least a 80386
and math co-processor).

Survival ($10) available from David P. Smith, University of Texas, School of
Public Health, P. O. Box 20186, Houston, Texas 77225, telephone 713-792-4364.
A batch processor, no graphics.  They are currently updating the package.

I have not verified the following:

SYSTAT also has an add-on for survival analyses

DMA Corp. in Palo Alto (?) markets Nancy Tuma's RATE.  Available in mainframe,
UNIX and PC versions (?).  This program seems to require compiling and is not
for the computer novice (like myself).

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The publisher of the Epidemiology Monitor newsletter maintains a
software library (EpiWare) listing several microcomputer programs
for data analysis in epidemiology and biostatistics.  Most of these
programs are either shareware (pay the author a small fee only if
you decide that you will be using the program) or freeware (pay
nothing but do not forget to drop the author a line with comments
and/or suggestions for improvement). Many of these programs incorporate
well designed algorithms and are sophisticated enough to handle a
variety of data analysis needs. Unlike commercial programs, however,
they lack a nice user interface and all bells and whistles you would
see in a Windows piece of code.

I recall that EpiWare has several titles under the survival analysis
heading. I have contributed two MS-DOS programs (freeware) to EpiWare,
KMSURV (1) and COXSURV (2), which perform univariate (including
survival plots) and multivariate survival analysis, respectively. I
have also contributed a program for logistic regression modelling,
MULTLR (3), a technique that is frequently used as an adjunct in the
analysis of survival data.  They were written in Turbo Pascal.

The address is:

  The Epidemiology Monitor      (they charge a US$ 5.00 handling fee
  Software Library               per program plus US$ 2.00 if ordered
  2560 Whisper Wind Ct.          from outside the U.S.A.)
  Roswell, GA  30076, U.S.A.

A propos, neither the EpiWare freeware contributors nor the publisher
derive any financial benefits from such a distribution clearinghouse.

References:

1. Campos-Filho N and Franco EL. Microcomputer-assisted univariate survival
    data analysis using Kaplan-Meier life table estimators. Computer Methods
    and Programs in Biomedicine 27: 223-228, 1988.

2. Campos-Filho N and Franco EL. Microcomputer-assisted multivariate
    survival data analysis using Cox's proportional hazards regression model.
    Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine 31: 81-87, 1990.

3. Campos-Filho N and Franco EL. A microcomputer program for multiple
    logistic regression by unconditional and conditional maximum likelihood
    methods. American Journal of Epidemiology 129: 439-444, 1989.

        ,,,,,                 /=================================\
       (-O-O-)               | Dr. Eduardo Franco, Assoc. Prof.  |
       |  ^  |           /   | Epidemiology & Biostatistics Unit |
        \(=)/          /     | Armand-Frappier Institute         |
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