Modified partial least squares method implementing mixed-effect model

Contemporary biomedical data often involve an ill-posed problem owing to small sample size and large number of multi-collinear variables. Partial least squares (PLS) method could be a plausible alternative to an ill-conditioned ordinary least squares. However, in the case of a PLS model that includes a random-effect, how to deal with a random-effect or mixed effects remains a widely open question worth further investigation. In the present study, we propose a modified multivariate PLS method implementing mixed-effect model (PLSM). The advantage of PLSM is its versatility in handling serial longitudinal data or its ability for taking a random -effect into account. We conduct simulations to investigate statistical properties of PLSM, and showcase its real clinical application to predict treatment outcome of esthetic surgical procedures of human faces. The proposed PLSM seemed to be particularly beneficial 1) when random-effect is conspicuous; 2) the number of predictors is relatively large compared to the sample size; 3) the multicollinearity is weak or moderate; and/or 4) the random error is considerable.