Zero-Inflated Models for Assessing the Effects of Supplements on Reducing Prostate Cancer Incidence
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Abstract
Data with many zeros are often encountered in medical and public health studies. In prostate cancer studies, for example, the frequency of use of nutritional supplements by black men has often preponderance of zeros as some men do not use any supplements at all. There is strong evidence from literature that the use of supplements may decrease the risk of prostate cancer (Clark et al., 1998; Abu-Shahin et al., 2013). Failure to account for extra zeros may result in biased parameter estimates and misleading inferences.
