Repeated confidence intervals for a scale change in a sequential survival study

Biometrics. 1991 Mar;47(1):289-94.

Abstract

This note considers the problem of comparing the survival distributions of two treatment groups in a clinical trial where the treatment difference is measured in terms of a time-scale change. Patients enter the study sequentially and may be subject to random loss to follow-up. The survival data are reviewed periodically for early evidence of the treatment difference. An approach to constructing repeated confidence intervals for the scale-change parameter is described. These intervals provide useful information about the magnitude of the treatment difference in interim analyses. An example taken from an AIDS clinical trial is given.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Biometry
  • Clinical Trials as Topic / statistics & numerical data*
  • Confidence Intervals*
  • Humans
  • Survival Analysis*
  • Therapeutics