Confidence-interval construction for rate ratio in matched-pair studies with incomplete data.
Matched-pair design is often used in clinical trials to increase the efficiency of establishing equivalence between two treatments with binary outcomes. In this article, we consider such a design based on rate ratio in the presence of incomplete data. The rate ratio is one of the most frequently used indices in comparing efficiency of two treatments in clinical trials. In this article, we propose 10 confidence-interval estimators for the rate ratio in incomplete matched-pair designs. A hybrid method that recovers variance estimates required for the rate ratio from the confidence limits for single proportions is proposed. It is noteworthy that confidence intervals based on this hybrid method have closed-form solution. The performance of the proposed confidence intervals is evaluated with respect to their exact coverage probability, expected confidence interval width, and distal and mesial noncoverage probability. The results show that the hybrid Agresti-Coull confidence interval based on Fieller's theorem performs satisfactorily for small to moderate sample sizes. Two real examples from clinical trials are used to illustrate the proposed confidence intervals.
a Department of Statistics , Yunnan University , Kunming , P. R. China.
Hui-Qiong
HQ
Li
Ivan S F
IS
Chan
Man-Lai
ML
Tang
Guo-Liang
GL
Tian
Nian-Sheng
NS
Tang
D000932:Antiemetics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D008776:Methylprednisolone Hemisuccinate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008787:Metoclopramide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015233:Models, Statistical; D018401:Sample Size; D014839:Vomiting / Q000517:prevention & control
D000932:Antiemetics; D008776:Methylprednisolone Hemisuccinate; D008787:Metoclopramide
Agresti–Coull interval; Correlated proportions; Incomplete data; Jeffreys interval; Method of variance estimations recovery; Wilson interval