Application of a multilevel model in longitudinal data

Objective: To explore the applicability of a multilevel model in longitudinal data.Methods: The income of 45 hospitals with different grades for 8 years in Shandong and Henan Provinces was assessed by a multilevel model.Results: The multilevel model showed that differences of the hospital professional income and velocity and acceleration of increase were not significant between the two provinces,but they were significant in various grades.Conclusion: Multilevel models can efficiently analyze longitudinal data with hierarchical structure and missing data.