ML estimation using Poisson HGLM approach in semi-parametric frailty models

Semi-parametric frailty model with nonparametric baseline hazards has been widely used for the analyses of clustered survival-time data. The frailty models can be fitted via an auxiliary Poisson hierarchical generalized linear model (HGLM). For the inferences of the frailty model marginal likelihood, which gives MLE, is often used. The marginal likelihood is usually obtained by integrating out random effects, but it often requires an intractable integration. In this paper, we propose to obtain the MLE via Laplace approximation using a Poisson HGLM approach for semi-parametric frailty model. The proposed HGLM approach uses hierarchical-likelihood (h-likelihood), which avoids integration itself. The proposed method is illustrated using a numerical study.