Medicine and Clinical Studies
The short-term survival rate following a lung transplant has improved recently. Even though patients face the risks of organ rejection and infection, approximately 78% of patients survive after the first year, and the median survival for a single-lung recipient is 4.6 years.10 The D'Youville Hospital Center in New York City claims to have a survival rate higher than the national average. Suppose a random sample of single-lung transplant patients from D'Youville was obtained. The survival (in years) after the transplant was recorded for each. Suppose no assumptions can be made about the shape of the underlying continuous distribution.
a. Conduct a sign test to determine whether there is any evidence to suggest that the median survival at D'Youville is greater than 4.6 years. Use a = 0.05.
b. Conduct a one-sample t test concerning a population mean to determine whether there is any evidence to suggest that the mean survival at D'Youville is greater than 4.6 years. Use a = 0.05. How do your results compare with part (a)? Which analysis do you believe is more appropriate? Why?