The transition intensity matrix of the
Markov process. The diagonal of qmatrix is ignored,
and computed as appropriate so that the rows sum to zero. For
example, a possible qmatrix for a three state illness-death
maxtime
Maximum time for the simulated process.
covs
Matrix of time-dependent covariates, with one row for each
observation time and one column for each covariate.
beta
Matrix of linear covariate effects on log transition
intensities. The rows correspond to different covariates, and the
columns to the transition intensities. The intensities are ordered
by reading across rows of the intensity matrix, starting
obstimes
Vector of times at which the covariates are observed.
start
Starting state of the process. Defaults to 1.
mintime
Starting time of the process. Defaults to 0.
Value
A list with components,
statesSimulated states through which the process moves. This
ends with either an absorption before obstime, or a transient state
at obstime.
timesExact times at which the process changes to the corresponding
states
qmatrixThe given transition intensity matrix
concept
Simulation
Details
The effect of time-dependent covariates on the transition intensity
matrix for an individual is determined by assuming that the covariate is a step function
which remains constant in between the individual's observation times.