Custom regression models

Like for univariate models, it is possible to create your own custom parametric survival models. Why might you want to do this?

  • Create new / extend AFT models using known probability distributions
  • Create a piecewise model using domain knowledge about subjects
  • Iterate and fit a more accurate parametric model

lifelines has a very simple API to create custom parametric regression models. You only need to define the cumulative hazard function. For example, the cumulative hazard for the constant-hazard regression model looks like:

$$ H(t, x) = \frac{t}{\lambda(x)}\\ \lambda(x) = \exp{(\vec{\beta} \cdot \vec{x}^{\,T})} $$

where $\beta$ are the unknowns we will optimize over.

Below are some example custom models.


In [1]:
from lifelines.fitters import ParametricRegressionFitter
from autograd import numpy as np
from lifelines.datasets import load_rossi


class ExponentialAFTFitter(ParametricRegressionFitter):
    
    # this class property is necessary, and should always be a non-empty list of strings. 
    _fitted_parameter_names = ['lambda_']
    
    def _cumulative_hazard(self, params, t, Xs):
        # params is a dictionary that maps unknown parameters to a numpy vector. 
        # Xs is a dictionary that maps unknown parameters to a numpy 2d array 
        beta = params['lambda_']
        X = Xs['lambda_']
        lambda_ = np.exp(np.dot(X, beta))
        return t / lambda_
    

rossi = load_rossi()
rossi['intercept'] = 1.0

# the below variables maps dataframe columns to parameters
regressors = {
    'lambda_': rossi.columns
}

eaf = ExponentialAFTFitter().fit(rossi, 'week', 'arrest', regressors=regressors)
eaf.print_summary()


model lifelines.ExponentialAFTFitter
duration col 'week'
event col 'arrest'
number of observations 432
number of events observed 114
log-likelihood -686.37
time fit was run 2020-01-21 22:13:30 UTC
coef exp(coef) se(coef) coef lower 95% coef upper 95% exp(coef) lower 95% exp(coef) upper 95% z p -log2(p)
lambda_ fin 0.37 1.44 0.19 -0.01 0.74 0.99 2.10 1.92 0.06 4.18
age 0.06 1.06 0.02 0.01 0.10 1.01 1.10 2.55 0.01 6.52
race -0.30 0.74 0.31 -0.91 0.30 0.40 1.35 -0.99 0.32 1.63
wexp 0.15 1.16 0.21 -0.27 0.56 0.76 1.75 0.69 0.49 1.03
mar 0.43 1.53 0.38 -0.32 1.17 0.73 3.24 1.12 0.26 1.93
paro 0.08 1.09 0.20 -0.30 0.47 0.74 1.59 0.42 0.67 0.57
prio -0.09 0.92 0.03 -0.14 -0.03 0.87 0.97 -3.03 <0.005 8.65
intercept 4.05 57.44 0.59 2.90 5.20 18.21 181.15 6.91 <0.005 37.61
Log-likelihood ratio test 31.22 on 6 df, -log2(p)=15.41

In [17]:
%matplotlib inline
%config InlineBackend.figure_format = 'retina'

class DependentCompetingRisksHazard(ParametricRegressionFitter):
    """

    Reference
    --------------
    Frees and Valdez, UNDERSTANDING RELATIONSHIPS USING COPULAS
    
    """
    
    _fitted_parameter_names = ["lambda1", "rho1", "lambda2", "rho2", "alpha"]

    def _cumulative_hazard(self, params, T, Xs):
        lambda1 = np.exp(np.dot(Xs["lambda1"], params["lambda1"]))
        lambda2 = np.exp(np.dot(Xs["lambda2"], params["lambda2"]))
        rho2 =    np.exp(np.dot(Xs["rho2"],    params["rho2"]))
        rho1 =    np.exp(np.dot(Xs["rho1"],    params["rho1"]))
        alpha =   np.exp(np.dot(Xs["alpha"],   params["alpha"]))

        return ((T / lambda1) ** rho1 + (T / lambda2) ** rho2) ** alpha


fitter = DependentCompetingRisksHazard(penalizer=0.1)

rossi = load_rossi()
rossi["intercept"] = 1.0
rossi["week"] = rossi["week"] / rossi["week"].max() # scaling often helps with convergence

covariates = {
    "lambda1": rossi.columns,
    "lambda2": rossi.columns,
    "rho1": ["intercept"],
    "rho2": ["intercept"],
    "alpha": ["intercept"],
}

fitter.fit(rossi, "week", event_col="arrest", regressors=covariates, timeline=np.linspace(0, 2))
fitter.print_summary(2)

ax = fitter.plot()

ax = fitter.predict_survival_function(rossi.loc[::100]).plot(figsize=(8, 4))
ax.set_title("Predicted survival functions for selected subjects")


model lifelines.DependentCompetingRisksHazard
duration col 'week'
event col 'arrest'
penalizer 0.1
number of observations 432
number of events observed 114
log-likelihood -227.75
time fit was run 2020-01-21 22:18:10 UTC
coef exp(coef) se(coef) coef lower 95% coef upper 95% exp(coef) lower 95% exp(coef) upper 95% z p -log2(p)
lambda1 fin 0.02 1.02 0.22 -0.40 0.44 0.67 1.55 0.09 0.93 0.11
age 0.01 1.01 0.00 0.01 0.02 1.01 1.02 3.34 <0.005 10.25
race 0.05 1.05 0.17 -0.29 0.39 0.75 1.48 0.31 0.76 0.40
wexp -0.21 0.81 0.04 -0.29 -0.13 0.75 0.87 -5.44 <0.005 24.18
mar 0.18 1.20 0.19 -0.19 0.56 0.83 1.75 0.96 0.34 1.56
paro 0.02 1.02 0.12 -0.20 0.25 0.82 1.28 0.20 0.84 0.25
prio -0.01 0.99 0.01 -0.03 0.00 0.97 1.00 -1.35 0.18 2.49
intercept -0.00 1.00 0.03 -0.06 0.06 0.94 1.06 -0.08 0.94 0.10
lambda2 fin 0.21 1.23 0.20 -0.19 0.61 0.83 1.84 1.03 0.30 1.72
age 0.02 1.02 0.01 0.00 0.04 1.00 1.04 2.05 0.04 4.64
race -0.21 0.81 0.22 -0.64 0.21 0.53 1.24 -0.98 0.33 1.62
wexp 0.24 1.27 0.13 -0.02 0.49 0.98 1.64 1.79 0.07 3.77
mar 0.17 1.18 0.21 -0.25 0.58 0.78 1.79 0.78 0.43 1.20
paro 0.01 1.01 0.14 -0.27 0.29 0.76 1.33 0.06 0.95 0.07
prio -0.07 0.93 0.02 -0.11 -0.03 0.90 0.97 -3.22 <0.005 9.59
intercept 0.61 1.84 0.07 0.48 0.74 1.61 2.09 9.14 <0.005 63.82
rho1 intercept 2.87 17.69 0.39 2.12 3.63 8.31 37.63 7.46 <0.005 43.38
rho2 intercept 0.30 1.35 0.66 -0.99 1.59 0.37 4.89 0.46 0.65 0.63
alpha intercept -0.00 1.00 0.14 -0.29 0.28 0.75 1.32 -0.03 0.98 0.04
Log-likelihood ratio test 36.86 on 17 df, -log2(p)=8.15
Out[17]:
Text(0.5, 1.0, 'Predicted survival functions for selected subjects')

Cure models

Suppose in our population we have a subpopulation that will never experience the event of interest. Or, for some subjects the event will occur so far in the future that it's essentially at time infinity. In this case, the survival function for an individual should not asymptically approach zero, but some positive value. Models that describe this are sometimes called cure models (i.e. the subject is "cured" of death and hence no longer susceptible) or time-lagged conversion models.

It would be nice to be able to use common survival models and have some "cure" component. Let's suppose that for individuals that will experience the event of interest, their survival distrubtion is a Weibull, denoted $S_W(t)$. For a random selected individual in the population, thier survival curve, $S(t)$, is:

$$ \begin{align*} S(t) = P(T > t) &= P(\text{cured}) P(T > t\;|\;\text{cured}) + P(\text{not cured}) P(T > t\;|\;\text{not cured}) \\ &= p + (1-p) S_W(t) \end{align*} $$

Even though it's in an unconvential form, we can still determine the cumulative hazard (which is the negative logarithm of the survival function):

$$ H(t) = -\log{\left(p + (1-p) S_W(t)\right)} $$

In [9]:
from autograd.scipy.special import expit

class CureModel(ParametricRegressionFitter):
    _scipy_fit_method = "SLSQP"
    _scipy_fit_options = {"ftol": 1e-10, "maxiter": 200}

    _fitted_parameter_names = ["lambda_", "beta_", "rho_"]

    def _cumulative_hazard(self, params, T, Xs):
        c = expit(np.dot(Xs["beta_"], params["beta_"]))

        lambda_ = np.exp(np.dot(Xs["lambda_"], params["lambda_"]))
        rho_ = np.exp(np.dot(Xs["rho_"], params["rho_"]))
        sf = np.exp(-(T / lambda_) ** rho_)

        return -np.log((1 - c) + c * sf)


cm = CureModel(penalizer=0.0)

rossi = load_rossi()
rossi["intercept"] = 1.0

covariates = {"lambda_": rossi.columns, "rho_": ["intercept"], "beta_": ['intercept', 'fin']}

cm.fit(rossi, "week", event_col="arrest", regressors=covariates, timeline=np.arange(250)) 
cm.print_summary(2)


model lifelines.CureModel
duration col 'week'
event col 'arrest'
number of observations 432
number of events observed 114
log-likelihood -679.51
time fit was run 2020-01-21 22:14:20 UTC
coef exp(coef) se(coef) coef lower 95% coef upper 95% exp(coef) lower 95% exp(coef) upper 95% z p -log2(p)
lambda_ fin 0.15 1.16 1.09 -1.99 2.29 0.14 9.89 0.14 0.89 0.17
age 0.03 1.04 0.16 -0.28 0.35 0.76 1.42 0.22 0.83 0.27
race -0.28 0.75 0.58 -1.43 0.86 0.24 2.37 -0.49 0.63 0.67
wexp 0.20 1.23 0.20 -0.19 0.60 0.82 1.82 1.01 0.31 1.67
mar 0.34 1.41 0.23 -0.10 0.79 0.90 2.20 1.50 0.13 2.92
paro 0.03 1.04 0.18 -0.32 0.39 0.73 1.47 0.19 0.85 0.24
prio -0.08 0.93 0.03 -0.13 -0.02 0.87 0.98 -2.52 0.01 6.42
intercept 3.76 43.15 0.07 3.62 3.91 37.27 49.95 50.39 <0.005 inf
rho_ intercept 0.43 1.54 0.07 0.30 0.56 1.35 1.75 6.37 <0.005 32.28
beta_ fin -0.41 0.66 0.98 -2.34 1.52 0.10 4.56 -0.42 0.68 0.56
intercept 0.70 2.02 0.12 0.47 0.93 1.60 2.54 5.95 <0.005 28.50
Log-likelihood ratio test 34.22 on 9 df, -log2(p)=13.58

In [18]:
cm.predict_survival_function(rossi.loc[::100]).plot(figsize=(12,6))


Out[18]:
<matplotlib.axes._subplots.AxesSubplot at 0x1278726a0>

In [11]:
# what's the effect on the survival curve if I vary "age"
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(12, 6))

cm.plot_covariate_groups(['age'], values=np.arange(20, 50, 5), cmap='coolwarm', ax=ax)


Out[11]:
<matplotlib.axes._subplots.AxesSubplot at 0x11167bb38>

Spline models

See royston_parmar_splines.py in the examples folder: https://github.com/CamDavidsonPilon/lifelines/tree/master/examples