Simultaneous estimation and inference for multiple response variables

Multivariate data arise frequently in biomedical and health studies where multiple response variables are collected across subjects. Unlike a univariate procedure fitting each response separately, a multivariate regression model provides a unique opportunity in studying the joint evolution of various response variables. In this paper, we propose two estimation procedures that improve estimation efficiency for the regression parameter by accommodating correlations among the response variables. The proposed procedures do not require knowledge of the true correlation structure nor does it estimate the parameters associated with the correlation. Theoretical and simulation results confirm that the proposed estimators are more efficient than the one obtained from the univariate approach. We further propose simple and powerful inference procedures for a goodness-of-fit test that possess the chi-squared asymptotic properties. Extensive simulation studies suggest that the proposed tests are more powerful than the Wald test based on the univariate procedure. The proposed methods are also illustrated through the mother’s stress and children’s morbidity study.