Nonparametric Identification of the Minimum Effective Dose

Abstract

In clinical dose-finding trials the identification of the minimum effective dose is important. Recently, a nonparametric step-down procedure based upon Wilcoxon rank sum tests was proposed for identifying the minimum effective dose. However, the recently introduced modified Baumgartner-Weiβ-Schindler statistic is very powerful and, consequently, may be used in the step-down procedure instead of the Wilcoxon rank sum. The two step-down closed testing procedures based upon the Wilcoxon and the modified Baumgartner-Weiβ-Schindler statistic, respectively, were compared in a Monte Carlo study. According to simulation results, the procedure based upon the modified Baumgartner-Weiβ-Schindler statistic is more powerful than that based upon the Mann-Whitney or Wilcoxon test for identifying the minimum effective dose.

Keywords

Wilcoxon rank sum test Mann-Whitney test Baumgartner-Weiβ-Schindler statistic Step-down procedure Many-one pairwise tests

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