Joint modelling of survival and longitudinal data with informative observation times

In this paper, we consider the joint modelling of survival and longitudinal data with informative observation time points. The survival model and the longitudinal model are linked via random effects, for which no distribution assumption is required under our estimation approach. The estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. The proposed estimator and its estimated covariance matrix can be easily calculated. Simulation studies and an application to a primary biliary cirrhosis study are also provided.