Some Statistical Issues in Studies of the Epidemiology of AIDS

Nicholas P. Jewell, Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley

Abstract

Analyses of studies of the epidemiology and natural history of infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and subsequent onset of AIDS are complicated by many statistical issues. Several such problems are associated with the nature of data collection which is often incomplete. Here we briefly survey some of the statistical methods that have been developed to meet the needs of analysis of AIDS data. In particular, we consider projection of the number of future cases, and estimation and identification of two key epidemiological unknowns, namely the properties of the incubation distribution and those of the infectivity associated with transmission.