A Comparison Study of Multivariate Binary and Continuous Outcomes

Abstract

Multivariate data are often generated with multiple outcomes in various fields. Multiple outcomes could be mixed as continuous and discrete. Because of their complexity, the data are often dealt with by separately applying regression analysis to each outcome even though they are associated the each other. This univariate approach results in the low efficiency of estimates for parameters. We study the efficiency gains of the multivariate approaches relative to the univariate approach with the mixed data that include continuous and binary outcomes. All approaches yield consistent estimates for parameters with complete data. By jointly estimating parameters using multivariate methods, it is generally possible to obtain more accurate estimates for parameters than by a univariate approach. The association between continuous and binary outcomes creates a gap in efficiency between multivariate and univariate approaches. We provide a guidance to analyze the mixed data.