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. 2017 Feb 23;18:83. doi: 10.1186/s13063-017-1791-0

Sample size determination for a binary response in a superiority clinical trial using a hybrid classical and Bayesian procedure

Maria M Ciarleglio 1,2,, Christopher D Arendt 3
PMCID: PMC5324236  PMID: 28231813

Abstract

Background

When designing studies that have a binary outcome as the primary endpoint, the hypothesized proportion of patients in each population experiencing the endpoint of interest (i.e., π 1,π 2) plays an important role in sample size and power calculations. Point estimates for π 1 and π 2 are often calculated using historical data. However, the uncertainty in these estimates is rarely addressed.

Methods

This paper presents a hybrid classical and Bayesian procedure that formally integrates prior information on the distributions of π 1 and π 2 into the study’s power calculation. Conditional expected power (CEP), which averages the traditional power curve using the prior distributions of π 1 and π 2 as the averaging weight conditional on the presence of a positive treatment effect (i.e., π 2>π 1), is used, and the sample size is found that equates the pre-specified frequentist power (1−β) and the conditional expected power of the trial.

Results

Notional scenarios are evaluated to compare the probability of achieving a target value of power with a trial design based on traditional power and a design based on CEP. We show that if there is uncertainty in the study parameters and a distribution of plausible values for π 1 and π 2, the performance of the CEP design is more consistent and robust than traditional designs based on point estimates for the study parameters. Traditional sample size calculations based on point estimates for the hypothesized study parameters tend to underestimate the required sample size needed to account for the uncertainty in the parameters. The greatest marginal benefit of the proposed method is achieved when the uncertainty in the parameters is not large.

Conclusions

Through this procedure, we are able to formally integrate prior information on the uncertainty and variability of the study parameters into the design of the study while maintaining a frequentist framework for the final analysis. Solving for the sample size that is necessary to achieve a high level of CEP given the available prior information helps protect against misspecification of hypothesized treatment effect and provides a substantiated estimate that forms the basis for discussion about the study’s feasibility during the design phase.

Keywords: Sample size, Clinical trial, Proportions, Binary endpoint, Conditional expected power, Hybrid classical-Bayesian

Background

When designing a study that has a binary outcome as the primary endpoint, the hypothesized proportion of patients in each population experiencing the endpoint of interest (i.e., π 1,π 2) plays an important role in sample size determination. In a two-arm study comparing two independent proportions, |π 2π 1| represents the true hypothesized difference between groups, sometimes also known as the minimal relevant difference [1]. While the treatment effect may also be parameterized equivalently using an odds ratio or relative risk, when appropriate, the most frequently used sample size formula expresses the treatment effect using the difference between groups [2, 3]. In the case of proportions, the variance of the difference depends on the individual hypothesized values for the population parameters π 1 and π 2 under the alternative hypothesis. Thus, the sample size required to detect a particular difference of interest is affected by both the magnitude of the difference and the individual hypothesized values.

Traditional sample size formulas incorporate beliefs about π 1 and π 2 through single point estimates [1]. However, there is often uncertainty in these hypothesized proportions and, thus, a distribution of plausible values that should be considered when determining sample size. Misspecification of these hypothesized proportions in the sample size calculation may lead to an underpowered study, or one that has a low probability of detecting a smaller and potentially clinically relevant difference when such a difference exists [4]. Alternatively, if there is strong evidence in favor of a large difference, a study may be overpowered to detect a small hypothesized difference. Thus, a method for determining sample size that formally uses prior information on the distribution of study design parameters can mitigate the risk that the power calculation will be overly optimistic or overly conservative.

Similar difficulty surrounding the choice of study parameters for a continuous endpoint with known variance [5] and for a continuous endpoint with unknown variance [6] has been discussed previously. We have presented methods that formally incorporate the distribution of prior information on both the treatment effect and the variability of the endpoint into sample size determination. In this paper, we extend these methods to a binary endpoint by using a “hybrid classical and Bayesian” [7] technique based on conditional expected power (CEP) [8] to account for the uncertainty in study parameters π 1 and π 2 when determining the sample size of a superiority clinical trial. Unlike traditional power, which is calculated assuming the truth of a point alternative hypothesis (π 2π 1=Δ A) for given values of π 1 and π 2, CEP conditions on the truth of a composite alternative of superiority (e.g., π 2π 1>0 or π 2>π 1). CEP formally incorporates available prior information on both π 1 and π 2 into the power calculations by averaging the traditional power curve using the product of the prior distribution of π 1 and the conditional prior distribution of π 2,p(π 2 | π 2>π 1), as the averaging weight. Based on the available prior information, the sample size that yields the desired level of CEP can be used when estimating the required sample size of the study.

While there has been much research in the area of Bayesian sample size determination [912], the hybrid classical and Bayesian method presented here aligns more with the ideas found in traditional frequentist sample size determination. Unlike traditional frequentist methods, however, we do not assume that the true parameters under the alternative hypothesis are known. This assumption rarely holds; typically, parameter values are estimated from early phase or pilot studies, studies of the intervention in different populations, or studies of similar agents in the current population [13, 14]. Thus, there is uncertainty surrounding the estimation of these population parameters and natural prior distributions of plausible values of these parameters that should be incorporated into the assessment of a trial’s power. Our method incorporates knowledge on the magnitude and uncertainty in the parameters into the traditional frequentist notion of power through explicit prior distributions on these unknown parameters to give CEP. As discussed in the “Methods” Section, CEP is not only well behaved, but it allows us to maintain a definition of power that intuitively converges to the traditional definition. Bayesian methodology is used only during the study design to allow prior information, through the prior distributions, to inform a choice for the sample size. Traditional type I and type II error rates, which have been accepted in practice, are maintained, and inferences are based on the likelihood of the data. The probability of achieving a target value of power using this method is compared to the performance of a traditional design. It is our hope that this formal method for incorporating prior knowledge into the study design will form the basis of thoughtful discussion about the feasibility of the study in order to reduce the number of poorly designed, underpowered studies that are conducted.

Methods

CEP for dichotomous outcome

Suppose that the study endpoint is dichotomous so that the probability (risk) of experiencing the event of interest in group 2 (the experimental treatment group), π 2, is compared to that in group 1 (the control group), π 1. The responses (i.e., the number of successes) in each group follow a binomial distribution. Assume that after n observations in each independent group or N=2n total observations, the two-sample Z-test of proportions is performed to test the null hypothesis H 0:π 2=π 1 (i.e., π 2π 1=Δ=0) versus the two-sided alternative hypothesis H 1:π 2π 1 (i.e., π 2π 1=Δ≠0), where π 2>π 1 indicates benefit of the experimental treatment over the control. The test is based on the test statistic T=p 2p 1, or the difference in the proportion of successes in each sample. Under H 0:π 2=π 1=π,T · ∼ N(0,σ 0) in large samples, where σ 0 is the standard deviation of the normal distribution. Assuming equal sample sizes n in each group gives σ0=2π(1π)/n, where π=(π 1+π 2)/2. In this setting, H 0 is rejected at the α-level of significance if |T|z1α/2σ^0, where z1α/2 is the critical value for lower tail area 1−α/2 of the standard normal distribution and π is estimated by p=(p 1+p 2)/2 in σ^0. A positive conclusion, D 1, occurs if Z=T/σ^0z1α/2.

Under H1:π2π1=ΔA,T·N(ΔA,σ1), where σ1=(π2(1π2)+π1(1π1))/n. Thus, the traditional power of this test to detect the hypothesized difference corresponding to values of π 1 and π 2 under H 1 is

P(D1|π1,π2)=ΦN|π2π1|2z1α/2π(1π)2π2(1π2)+2π1(1π1)=1β, 1

where Φ[ ·] is the standard normal cumulative distribution function. Since the traditional power curve is discontinuous at π 2=π 1 for a two-sided test, we assume a successful outcome or π 2>π 1 when calculating power; thus, |π 2π 1|=π 2π 1 in (1). One may plot the power function for fixed N and π 1 over values of π 2 or equivalently over values of π 2π 1 to give the traditional power curve. Figure 1 shows the traditional power surfaces for N=48 and for N=80 with hypothesized values of π 2=0.7 and π 1=0.3. Power curves for fixed π 2=0.7 and variable π 1 and for fixed π 1=0.3 and variable π 2 are highlighted. Sample size is chosen to give high traditional power (e.g., 0.80≤1−β≤0.90) to detect an effect at least as large as the hypothesized difference for π 2 and π 1 by solving (1) for N [2]:

N=2z1α/2π(1π)+z1β2π2(1π2)+2π1(1π1)π2π12. 2

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

Traditional power surfaces when hypothesized values of π 1=0.3 and π 2=0.7 for N=48 and N=80

The traditional power curve does not account for the uncertainty associated with the unknown population parameters π 2 and π 1 and does not indicate if the planned sample size is adequate given this uncertainty. Average or expected power (EP) was developed as a way to use the distribution of prior beliefs about the unknown parameters to provide an overall predictive probability of a positive conclusion [8, 9, 1524]. EP, also known as assurance [20], probability of study success [23], or Bayesian predictive power [24], averages the traditional power curve using the prior distributions for the unknown parameters to weight the average without restricting the prior distributions to assume treatment superiority. In the case of a binomial response, assuming π 1 and π 2 are independent yields a special case of the general multivariate formulation which allows the joint distribution p(π 1,π 2) to be factored into the product of the two prior distributions p(π 1) and p(π 2). Thus, the traditional power curve P(D 1 | π 2,π 1) is averaged using the product of the prior distributions for π 2 and π 1,p(π 2) and p(π 1), respectively, as the averaging weight [8], which gives the following formulation for EP:

P(D1)=π1π2P(D1|π1,π2)p(π2)p(π1)dπ2dπ1.

Expected power conditional on the experimental treatment’s superiority, π 2>π 1, is known as conditional expected power (CEP) [8]. Unlike EP, CEP is found by using the conditional prior distribution for π 2,p(π 2 | π 2>π 1), in the averaging weight. Since this conditional prior is now dependent on π 1 and equals zero when π 2π 1, to ensure integration to 1 when P(π 1>π 2)>0, the conditional prior is scaled by the normalization factor P(π 2>π 1)−1, or the inverse probability of the experimental treatment’s superiority. This gives the following formulation for CEP:

P(D1|π2>π1)=π1π2>π1P(D1|π1,π2)p(π2|π2>π1)p(π1)dπ2dπ1=1P(π2>π1)π1=01π2=π11P(D1|π1,π2)p(π2)p(π1)dπ2dπ1, 3

where

P(π2>π1)=π1=01π2=π11pπ1pπ2dπ2dπ1. 4

The unconditional prior distributions p(π 1) and p(π 2) are defined such that π 1∉ [0,1]⇒p(π 1)=0 and π 2∉ [ 0,1]⇒p(π 2)=0 (e.g., beta or uniform(0,1) distributions).

Combining (1) and (3) gives the following equation for CEP:

P(D1|π2>π1)=1P(π2>π1)π1π2>π1×ΦN(π2π1)2z1α/2π(1π)2π2(1π2)+2π1(1π1)p(π2)p(π1)dπ2dπ1. 5

Note, any appropriate sample size and power formulas may be used to evaluate CEP in (5). For example, continuity-corrected versions of (2) or the arcsine approximation [25, 26] may alternatively be utilized instead of (2) to determine sample size, while related power formulas may be used instead of (1) for CEP calculations.

To evaluate CEP under a proposed design, find N in (2) for the hypothesized values of π 1 and π 2, significance level α, and traditional power level 1−β. Numerical integration may then be used to evaluate CEP (5) for the assumed prior distributions p(π 1) and p(π 2). If CEP for the proposed design is less than 1−β, the study is expected to be underpowered under the treatment superiority assumption, and if the CEP is greater than 1−β, the study is expected to be overpowered. To ensure that the study is expected to be appropriately powered under the treatment superiority assumption, an iterative search procedure can be used to find the value of the sample size N in (5) that gives CEP equal to the threshold of traditional power 1−β. The value of N that achieves this desired level is denoted N . As in traditional power, we would like the probability of detecting a difference when a positive difference exists to be high (i.e., 0.80≤1−β≤0.90). Pseudo-code 1 outlines the steps for this process.

graphic file with name 13063_2017_1791_Figa_HTML.gif

If the prior distributions put all their mass at a single positive point, essentially becoming a traditional point alternative hypothesis, EP and CEP reduce to the traditional formulation of power. However, for prior distributions where P(π 1>π 2)>0, CEP will be greater than EP, with CEP approaching 1 and EP approaching P(π 2>π 1) as N:

Ifπ2<π1,limNΦN(π2π1)2z1α/2π(1π)2π2(1π2)+2π1(1π1)=limzΦz=0Ifπ2>π1,limNΦN(π2π1)2z1α/2π(1π)2π2(1π2)+2π1(1π1)=limzΦz=1
limNP(D1)=limNπ1π2<π1ΦN(π2π1)2z1α/2π(1π)2π2(1π2)+2π1(1π1)p(π2)p(π1)dπ2dπ1+limNπ1π2>π1ΦN(π2π1)2z1α/2π(1π)2π2(1π2)+2π1(1π1)p(π2)p(π1)dπ2dπ1=P(π2>π1)

When there is no doubt of a beneficial effect (i.e., P(π 2>π 1)=1), CEP equals EP.

Previous work in this area almost exclusively uses expected power P(D 1) to account for uncertainty in study design parameters [8, 9, 1524], and finds the sample size that gives the desired level of P(D 1). Our preference for using CEP as opposed to EP to inform the design of a study is twofold. EP gives the predictive probability of a positive conclusion, regardless of the truth of the alternative hypothesis. CEP, however, is conceptually analogous to traditional power in that it is conditional on the truth of the benefit of the experimental treatment, which provides a more familiar framework for setting the desired level of CEP for a study. Secondly, if P(π 1>π 2)>0, then EP will not approach 1 as the sample size goes to infinity because limNP(D1)=1P(π1>π2). CEP, however, is conditioned on π 2>π 1, so it approaches 1 as the sample size increases since limNP(D1|π2>π1)=1P(π1>π2)P(π2>π1)=1. Thus, CEP is also more mathematically analogous to traditional power in that the probability of correctly reaching a positive conclusion is assured as the sample size goes to infinity.

Prior distributions

The prior distributions p(π 1) and p(π 2) reflect the current knowledge about the response rate in each treatment group before the trial is conducted. In the design phase of a clinical trial, a review of the literature is often performed. This collection of prior evidence forms a natural foundation for specifying the prior distributions. Historical data are commonly pooled using traditional meta-analysis techniques to calculate an overall point estimate [27, 28]; however, a Bayesian random-effects meta-analysis [2931] may be more appropriate when the goal is to hypothesize a prior distribution. The priors can also incorporate the pre-trial consensus of experts in the field [9] or Phase II trial data [22]. Translating and combining prior evidence and opinions to form a prior distribution is often hailed as the most challenging part of using a Bayesian framework [7], and several works [3235] describe techniques for eliciting a prior distribution.

A beta distribution, which is defined on the interval [ 0,1], can be used to describe initial beliefs about the parameters π 1 and π 2. If π jBeta(a,b), then

p(πj)=Γ(a+b)Γ(a)Γ(b)πja1(1πj)b1

where shape parameters a>0 and b>0. The mean, variance, and mode of the prior distribution are given by: μ=a/(a+b),τ 2=ab/((a+b)2(a+b+1)), and m=(a−1)/(a+b−2) for a,b>1, respectively. For fixed μ, larger values of a and b decrease τ 2. One may choose the shape parameters a and b by fixing the mean and variance of the distribution at fixed values μ and τ 2, which yields a=μ 2(1−μ)/τ 2μ and b=a(1−μ)/μ. For skewed distributions, one may wish to describe central tendency using the mode m rather than the mean. Under a traditional design, the difference in modes, m 2m 1, is a natural estimate for the hypothesized difference in proportions. When fixing m and τ 2, the corresponding value of b may be found by solving the general cubic equation Ab 3+Bb 2+Cb+D=0, with coefficients

A=m3(m1)3+3m2(m1)23m(m1)+1B=6m33m2(m1)3+11m2+6m(m1)2+4m+mτ23(m1)+1C=12m3+12m23m(m1)3+8m210m+3(m1)24m2+12mτ2(m1)D=8m312m2+6m1(m1)3+4m24m+1(m1)2.

The corresponding value of a is given by a=2mmb1m1. (Table 2 in the Appendix reports the values of a and b for given m and τ 2.) Notice that for a given variance τ 2, the value of a when the mode =m equals the value of b when the mode =1−m. Thus, when m=0.5,a=b.

A uniform prior distribution may also be assumed for π j with limits within the interval [ 0,1]. The uniform prior has lower bound a and upper bound b, or π j∼U(a,b), and is constant over the range [ a,b]. The prior is centered at μ=(a+b)/2 with variance τ 2=(ba)2/12. The non-informative prior distribution that assumes no values of π j are more probable than any others is U(0,1)≡Beta(1,1). One may also restrict the range of the uniform distribution to focus on smaller ranges for π 1 and π 2. Rather than setting the lower and upper bounds of the uniform, one may set the mean μ<1 and variance τ2<min(μ2,(1μ)2)3 of the prior distribution, which gives lower bound a=μ3τ2 and upper bound b=μ+3τ2. Again, under a traditional design, the difference in means μ 2μ 1 is a natural estimate for the hypothesized difference in proportions when presented with uniform prior evidence. (Table 3 in the Appendix reports the values of a and b for given μ and τ 2.) Notice that restrictions exist for the variances assumed for certain means to maintain bounds between [ 0,1].

Results

The procedures described in the “Methods” Section were applied to a set of notional scenarios to compare traditionally designed studies to those designed using CEP. The integration step of Pseudo-code 1 was approximated using Riemann sums with step size 0.0001.

An example scenario assumed beta-distributed priors for π 1 and π 2, such that π 1Beta(6.62,14.11) and π 2Beta(14.11,6.62). For this scenario, a traditionally designed study would select a sample size of N=48 based on (2) to achieve 80% power and a two-sided type I error of 5%, with hypothesized values of π 1=mode(Beta(6.62,14.11))=0.3 and π 2=mode(Beta(14.11,6,62))=0.7. However, based on the assumed prior distributions, a study with a sample size of 48 could achieve less than 80% power when π 1≠0.3 or π 2≠0.7. In fact, based on (5), the study with sample size N=48 would give CEP=67.8%. Figure 2 a displays the joint distribution of π 1 and π 2, conditional on π 2>π 1, and highlights the region where power would be less than 80% under a traditional design when the sample size is N=48. For this scenario, the study with sample size N=48 would achieve power less than the target value in more than 56% of instances when π 2>π 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Conditional joint prior density p(π 1)p(π 2|π 2>π 1) for π 1Beta(6.62,14.11) and π 2Beta(14.11,6.62). a Highlighting region where power <80% under a traditional design. b Highlighting region where power <80% under a CEP design

For the same scenario, a CEP-designed study would select a sample size of N =80 based on Pseudo-code 1 to achieve 80% CEP with a two-sided type I error of 5%. Figure 2 b displays the joint distribution of π 1 and π 2, conditional on π 2>π 1, and highlights the region where power would be less than 80% under a CEP design when the sample size is N =80. For this scenario, the study with sample size N =80 would achieve power less than the target value in approximately 33% of instances when π 2>π 1. Note that the intersection of the two regions corresponds to values of π 1 and π 2 that give power from (1) equal to 80% with sample size N=80.

The probability of achieving power at least equal to the target value, conditional on the experimental treatment’s superiority (π 2>π 1), is here termed the performance of the design. While CEP provides a point estimate of power under the treatment superiority assumption, performance indicates how robust the design is. The performance of the design is given by:

Performance=1P(π2>π1)π1π2>π1FN,π1,π2,z1α/2p(π2)p(π1)dπ2dπ1, 6

where

FN,π1,π2,z1α/2=1ifΦN(π2π1)2z1α/2π(1π)2π2(1π2)+2π1(1π1)1β,0otherwise

Thus, the traditionally designed study from the example scenario produced a performance of (100−56)%=44%, while the CEP design, which explicitly accounts for uncertainty, produced a more robust performance of (100−33)%=67%. However, this increase in performance required an increase in sample size from N=48 to N =80. The increase in performance divided by the increase in sample size is here termed the marginal benefit for the scenario due to CEP. The marginal benefit for the example scenario due to CEP is given by (67−44)%/(80−48)=0.71%. If there is no uncertainty in the design parameters, then there would be no marginal benefit due to CEP, since the probability of achieving less than the target power would be assumed 0 for a traditionally designed study and the CEP-designed study would give N =N. On the other hand, if the uncertainty in the design parameters is very large, the marginal benefit may approach 0, since the CEP-designed study could give N >>N with limited increase in performance. This is important to consider, since a very small marginal benefit could make it impractical to achieve a desired value for CEP or a desired threshold of performance.

Since the performance and marginal benefit result from the prior distributions of π 1 and π 2, several notional scenarios were evaluated to explore the relationship between prior distributions, CEP, and performance. Tables 4, 5 and 6 in the Appendix display the results of several scenarios that assumed Beta-distributed priors for π 1 and π 2. The mode and variance of p(π j),j=1,2, are denoted m j and τj2, respectively. The procedure for generating the results from Table 4 in the Appendix, for which τ12=τ22, is given below:

  1. The modes, m 1 and m 2, and variances, τ12=τ22, were used to hypothesize a beta prior distribution for π 1 and π 2, respectively.

  2. For each pair of prior distributions (p(π 1),p(π 2)) considered:
    1. Traditional sample size is found using (2) by setting the hypothesized values of π 1 and π 2 equal to the mode of each prior, m 1 and m 2, respectively. Two-sided type I error α=0.05 and traditional power 1−β=0.80 are assumed. Traditional sample size is denoted N^. If N^ is odd, the sample size is increased by 1 to provide equal sample size for both groups.
    2. The CEP of the traditional design is found using (5), with N=N^, two-sided α=0.05, and 1−β=0.80.
    3. The performance of the traditional design is found using (6), with N=N^, two-sided α=0.05, and 1−β=0.80.
    4. The smallest sample size for which CEP evaluates to ≥1−β is found using Pseudo-Code 1 and is denoted N . If N is odd, the sample size is increased by 1 to provide equal sample size for both groups.
    5. The probability of a positive treatment effect, P(π 2>π 1), is found using (4) with Riemann sum integral approximations.
    6. The conditional expected difference, E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1), is found using Riemann sum integral approximations of
      E(π2π1|π2>π1)=1P(π2>π1)π1=01π2=π11(π2π1)pπ1pπ2dπ2dπ1.
    7. The performance of the CEP design is found using (6), with N=N , two-sided α=0.05, and 1−β=0.80.
    8. The marginal benefit due to CEP for the scenario is found by dividing the difference between the CEP design performance and the traditional design performance by the difference between the CEP sample size and the traditional sample size, NN^.

Table 4 in the Appendix shows that when m 2m 1>1/3, the performance of the traditional design decreases as τ12=τ22 increases. This is explained by the fact that the conditional expected difference is less than the hypothesized difference that was used in the traditional design sample size calculation. This occurs for m 2m 1>1/3 since both prior distributions are approaching U(0,1) as τ12=τ22 increases, and E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1)=1/3 for π 1,π 2∼U(0,1). Thus, when m 2m 1<1/3, the performance of the traditional design increases as τ12=τ22 increases since the hypothesized difference is less than the limit of the conditional expected difference. When m 2m 1 is smaller than E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1), CEP will be high for a traditional design with hypothesized difference m 2m 1, since it is designed to detect a difference smaller than the expected difference.

The procedure was also applied to scenarios where τ12=0.001 and τ22>0.001 (Table 5 in the Appendix) and scenarios where τ12=0.08 and τ22<0.08 (Table 6 in the Appendix), corresponding to small and large uncertainty, respectively, in the proportion experiencing the outcome in the control group. Table 5 in the Appendix shows that the performance of the traditional design is similar to the performance seen in Table 4 in the Appendix. However, when τ12 is fixed at 0.001,E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1) begins near m 2m 1 and approaches (1−m 1)/2 as τ22 increases because p(π 2|π 2>π 1) is approaching U(m 1,1). Thus, when m 2m 1>(1−m 1)/2, the performance of the traditional design decreases as τ22 increases, and when m 2m 1<(1−m 1)/2, the performance of the traditional design increases as τ22 increases.

When τ12 is fixed at 0.08,E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1) approaches 1/3 from m 2/2. If E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1) is increasing towards 1/3 as τ22 increases, then the performance of the traditional design will increase. If E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1) decreases towards 1/3 as τ22 increases, then the performance of the traditional design will decrease. If m 2/2>1/3, then the performance of the traditional design will decrease as τ22 increases. This happens because, as τ22 increases, the hypothesized difference is decreasing from m 2/2 to 1/3. The behavior of the traditional design is summarized in Table 1.

Table 1.

Analysis of traditional design performance

Uncertainty m 2m 1 Performance
τ12=τ22 <1/3 Increases as τ12=τ22 increases
>1/3 Decreases as τ12=τ22 increases
τ12 small <(1−m 1)/2 Increases as τ22 increases
>(1−m 1)/2 Decreases as τ22 increases
τ12 large >2/3−m 1 Increases as τ22 increases
<2/3−m 1 Decreases as τ22 increases

Excursions with uniform priors were performed. Table 7 in the Appendix shows that the performance of a traditional design under a uniform prior is similar to the performance observed in Table 4 in the Appendix. However, fewer trends are visible because the parameters of the uniform distribution are more restricted than the parameters of the beta distribution.

As expected, the performance of the CEP design changes minimally as τ12=τ22 increases, since N is chosen to explicitly account for changes in τ12=τ22. Note, N is directly tied to E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1): N increases as the conditional expected difference decreases, and N decreases as the conditional expected difference increases. This occurs because increasing the variability can increase the conditional expected difference if the resulting conditional priors give more relative weight to larger differences and less relative weight to smaller differences compared to the unconditional priors. This is more likely to occur when m 1 is large, since increasing the variability when m 1 is large will make smaller values of π 1 more likely due to the condition that π 2>π 1. Similarly, when m 2 is small, larger values of π 2 are more likely under the assumption that π 2>π 1.

The marginal benefit due to CEP is greatest for small values of τ12=τ22. This is so because the relative difference between N^ and N is smallest when the uncertainty is low (i.e., when the traditional assumptions closely approximate the CEP assumptions). However, the marginal benefit due to CEP decreases minimally or remains constant as the uncertainty increases because the difference in performance is always less than 1, while the difference in sample size, NN^, can be greater than 200 in some cases. Furthermore, as τ12=τ22 increases, the performance of the traditional design can improve even though N^ remains constant, while N may have to increase to maintain the performance of the CEP design.

When τ12 is fixed at 0.001, the performance of the CEP design remains stable at approximately 0.7. However, the marginal benefit is greater with fixed, low uncertainty in π 1 compared with the changing uncertainty in Table 4 in the Appendix. The sample size required to achieve CEP of 1−β with fixed τ12 is reduced compared to scenarios with changing τ12. This is because uncertainty in the control group is small, which indicates that reducing the uncertainty in the control parameter can increase the benefit of CEP to the study.

When τ12 is fixed at 0.08, the performance of the CEP design remains stable at approximately 0.71. However, the marginal benefit is very small because N is always greater than that in Table 4 or Table 5 in the Appendix due to the larger uncertainty in π 1. Again, this demonstrates that it is beneficial to minimize the uncertainty in π 1 to increase the marginal benefit.

Note that for small differences in m 2m 1 and any large variance, the CEP design can reduce the sample size from the value determined from a traditional design. The reason is that increased uncertainty under the treatment superiority assumption increases the likelihood of differences greater than m 2m 1.

Discussion

Many underpowered clinical trials are conducted with limited justification for the chosen study parameters used to determine the required sample size [36, 37] with scientific, economic, and ethical implications [36, 38]. While sample size calculations based on traditional power assume no uncertainty in the study parameters, the hybrid classical and Bayesian procedure presented here formally accounts for the uncertainty in the study parameters by incorporating the prior distributions for π 1 and π 2 into the calculation of conditional expected power (CEP). This method allows available evidence on both the magnitude and the variability surrounding the parameters to play a formal role in determining study power and sample size.

In this paper, we explored several notional scenarios to compare the performance of the CEP design to that of a design based on traditional power. We show that if there is uncertainty in the study parameters and a distribution of plausible values for π 1 and π 2, the performance of the CEP design is more consistent and robust than that of traditional designs based on point estimates for the study parameters. Traditional sample size calculations based on point estimates for the hypothesized study parameters tend to underestimate the required sample size needed to account for the uncertainty in the parameters.

The scenarios demonstrate that reducing uncertainty in the control parameter π 1 can lead to greater benefit from the CEP-designed study, because the relative difference between N^ and N is smallest when uncertainty is low. Therefore, it is worthwhile to use historical information to reduce the variability in the control group proportion rather than focusing only on the prior for the experimental treatment group. Nonetheless, when there is significant overlap between the prior distributions and a small hypothesized difference m 2m 1, traditional study designs can be overpowered under the treatment superiority assumption compared to the CEP design, and the CEP design would result in a smaller sample size. This happens because increased uncertainty under the treatment superiority assumption increases the relative likelihood of differences greater than m 2m 1.

In the scenarios we evaluated, the performance of the traditional design was highly dependent on the prior distributions but exhibited predictable behavior. The CEP design, however, consistently generated performance near 70% across all scenarios. This indicates that power greater than the target 1−β would not be uncommon for a CEP design. This begs the question of whether or not 1−β is an appropriate target for CEP, since it could apparently lead to overpowered studies. To avoid this issue, one may use a lower target for CEP or instead design the study using a target value of performance and use our iterative N search to find the design that achieves acceptable performance.

Additionally, when comparing the method based on CEP to similar methods based on expected power, the sample size from a CEP design will always be less than or equal to the sample size required to achieve equivalent EP. While pure Bayesian methods of sample size determination that compute prior effective sample size to count the information contained in the prior towards the current study will generally yield a smaller sample size than traditional frequentist methods [10], the method presented here does not assume that prior information will be incorporated into the final analysis.

Conclusions

The hybrid classical and Bayesian procedure presented here integrates available prior information about the study design parameters into the calculation of study sample size for a binary endpoint. This method allows prior information on both the magnitude and uncertainty surrounding the parameters π 1 and π 2 to inform the design of the current study through the use of conditional expected power. When there is a distribution of plausible study parameters, the design based on conditional expected power tends to outperform the traditional design. Note that if the determined sample size N is greater than what can be feasibly recruited in the proposed trial, this may indicate excessive uncertainty about the study parameters and should encourage serious discussion concerning the advisability of the study. Thus, we do not recommend that N be blindly used as the final study sample size, but we hope that this method encourages a careful synthesis of the prior information and motivates thoughtful discussion about the feasibility of the study in order to reduce the number of poorly designed, underpowered studies that are conducted.

Appendix

Table 2 presents the values of shape paramaters [a, b] for given m and τ 2 for the beta distribution. Table 3 reports the values of minimum and maximum parameters [ a,b] for given μ and τ 2 for the uniform distribution.

Table 2.

Shape parameters [ a,b] of beta distribution given mode m and variance τ 2

m/ τ 2 0.001 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05 0.055 0.06 0.065 0.07 0.075 0.08
0.01 [1.33,33.99] [1.12,12.73] [1.07,8.18] [1.05,6.21] [1.04,5.05] [1.03,4.26] [1.03,3.67] [1.02,3.21] [1.02,2.84] [1.02,2.53] [1.01,2.26] [1.01,2.03] [1.01,1.82] [1.01,1.63] [1.01,1.45] [1,1.28] [1,1.12]
0.05 [3.89,55.92] [1.77,15.55] [1.43,9.21] [1.3,6.74] [1.23,5.36] [1.18,4.45] [1.15,3.79] [1.12,3.29] [1.1,2.89] [1.08,2.56] [1.07,2.28] [1.05,2.03] [1.04,1.82] [1.03,1.62] [1.02,1.44] [1.02,1.28] [1.01,1.11]
0.1 [10.36,85.26] [3.05,19.4] [2.07,10.59] [1.72,7.44] [1.53,5.76] [1.41,4.7] [1.33,3.95] [1.27,3.39] [1.22,2.95] [1.18,2.59] [1.14,2.3] [1.12,2.04] [1.09,1.82] [1.07,1.62] [1.05,1.44] [1.03,1.27] [1.01,1.11]
0.15 [20.24,110] [4.88,23.01] [2.93,11.91] [2.25,8.1] [1.91,6.14] [1.69,4.92] [1.55,4.09] [1.44,3.48] [1.35,3] [1.29,2.62] [1.23,2.31] [1.18,2.04] [1.14,1.81] [1.11,1.61] [1.08,1.43] [1.05,1.26] [1.02,1.1]
0.2 [32.84,128.38] [7.22,25.89] [4,13] [2.91,8.65] [2.36,6.45] [2.03,5.11] [1.8,4.2] [1.64,3.54] [1.51,3.04] [1.41,2.64] [1.33,2.31] [1.26,2.04] [1.2,1.8] [1.15,1.6] [1.1,1.41] [1.06,1.25] [1.02,1.1]
0.25 [47.46,140.37] [9.95,27.84] [5.25,13.75] [3.68,9.03] [2.89,6.66] [2.41,5.23] [2.09,4.27] [1.86,3.57] [1.68,3.05] [1.55,2.63] [1.43,2.3] [1.34,2.02] [1.26,1.78] [1.19,1.58] [1.13,1.4] [1.08,1.24] [1.03,1.09]
0.3 [63.33,146.43] [12.92,28.82] [6.62,14.11] [4.52,9.21] [3.46,6.75] [2.83,5.27] [2.4,4.28] [2.1,3.57] [1.87,3.03] [1.69,2.61] [1.55,2.27] [1.43,1.99] [1.33,1.76] [1.24,1.56] [1.16,1.38] [1.1,1.23] [1.04,1.09]
0.35 [79.71,147.18] [16.01,28.88] [8.05,14.09] [5.39,9.16] [4.06,6.69] [3.27,5.21] [2.73,4.22] [2.35,3.51] [2.07,2.98] [1.84,2.56] [1.66,2.23] [1.52,1.96] [1.39,1.73] [1.29,1.53] [1.2,1.36] [1.12,1.21] [1.04,1.08]
0.4 [95.87,143.3] [19.07,28.1] [9.47,13.7] [6.27,8.9] [4.67,6.5] [3.71,5.06] [3.06,4.1] [2.61,3.41] [2.26,2.89] [2,2.49] [1.78,2.17] [1.61,1.91] [1.46,1.69] [1.33,1.5] [1.23,1.34] [1.13,1.2] [1.05,1.08]
0.45 [111.04,135.5] [21.94,26.6] [10.81,12.99] [7.09,8.45] [5.24,6.18] [4.12,4.82] [3.38,3.91] [2.85,3.26] [2.45,2.77] [2.14,2.4] [1.89,2.09] [1.69,1.85] [1.52,1.64] [1.38,1.46] [1.26,1.31] [1.15,1.18] [1.06,1.07]
0.5 [124.5,124.5] [24.5,24.5] [12,12] [7.83,7.83] [5.75,5.75] [4.5,4.5] [3.67,3.67] [3.07,3.07] [2.63,2.63] [2.28,2.28] [2,2] [1.77,1.77] [1.58,1.58] [1.42,1.42] [1.29,1.29] [1.17,1.17] [1.06,1.06]
0.55 [135.5,111.04] [26.6,21.94] [12.99,10.81] [8.45,7.09] [6.18,5.24] [4.82,4.12] [3.91,3.38] [3.26,2.85] [2.77,2.45] [2.4,2.14] [2.09,1.89] [1.85,1.69] [1.64,1.52] [1.46,1.38] [1.31,1.26] [1.18,1.15] [1.07,1.06]
0.6 [143.3,95.87] [28.1,19.07] [13.7,9.47] [8.9,6.27] [6.5,4.67] [5.06,3.71] [4.1,3.06] [3.41,2.61] [2.89,2.26] [2.49,2] [2.17,1.78] [1.91,1.61] [1.69,1.46] [1.5,1.33] [1.34,1.23] [1.2,1.13] [1.08,1.05]
0.65 [147.18,79.71] [28.88,16.01] [14.09,8.05] [9.16,5.39] [6.69,4.06] [5.21,3.27] [4.22,2.73] [3.51,2.35] [2.98,2.07] [2.56,1.84] [2.23,1.66] [1.96,1.52] [1.73,1.39] [1.53,1.29] [1.36,1.2] [1.21,1.12] [1.08,1.04]
0.7 [146.43,63.33] [28.82,12.92] [14.11,6.62] [9.21,4.52] [6.75,3.46] [5.27,2.83] [4.28,2.4] [3.57,2.1] [3.03,1.87] [2.61,1.69] [2.27,1.55] [1.99,1.43] [1.76,1.33] [1.56,1.24] [1.38,1.16] [1.23,1.1] [1.09,1.04]
0.75 [140.37,47.46] [27.84,9.95] [13.75,5.25] [9.03,3.68] [6.66,2.89] [5.23,2.41] [4.27,2.09] [3.57,1.86] [3.05,1.68] [2.63,1.55] [2.3,1.43] [2.02,1.34] [1.78,1.26] [1.58,1.19] [1.4,1.13] [1.24,1.08] [1.09,1.03]
0.8 [128.38,32.84] [25.89,7.22] [13,4] [8.65,2.91] [6.45,2.36] [5.11,2.03] [4.2,1.8] [3.54,1.64] [3.04,1.51] [2.64,1.41] [2.31,1.33] [2.04,1.26] [1.8,1.2] [1.6,1.15] [1.41,1.1] [1.25,1.06] [1.1,1.02]
0.85 [110,20.24] [23.01,4.88] [11.91,2.93] [8.1,2.25] [6.14,1.91] [4.92,1.69] [4.09,1.55] [3.48,1.44] [3,1.35] [2.62,1.29] [2.31,1.23] [2.04,1.18] [1.81,1.14] [1.61,1.11] [1.43,1.08] [1.26,1.05] [1.1,1.02]
0.9 [85.26,10.36] [19.4,3.05] [10.59,2.07] [7.44,1.72] [5.76,1.53] [4.7,1.41] [3.95,1.33] [3.39,1.27] [2.95,1.22] [2.59,1.18] [2.3,1.14] [2.04,1.12] [1.82,1.09] [1.62,1.07] [1.44,1.05] [1.27,1.03] [1.11,1.01]
0.95 [55.93,3.89] [15.55,1.77] [9.21,1.43] [6.74,1.3] [5.36,1.23] [4.45,1.18] [3.79,1.15] [3.29,1.12] [2.89,1.1] [2.56,1.08] [2.28,1.07] [2.03,1.05] [1.82,1.04] [1.62,1.03] [1.44,1.02] [1.28,1.02] [1.11,1.01]
0.99 [33.99,1.33] [12.73,1.12] [8.18,1.07] [6.21,1.05] [5.05,1.04] [4.26,1.03] [3.67,1.03] [3.21,1.02] [2.84,1.02] [2.53,1.02] [2.26,1.01] [2.03,1.01] [1.82,1.01] [1.63,1.01] [1.45,1.01] [1.28,1.003] [1.12,1.001]

Table 3.

Minimum and maximum parameters [ a,b] of uniform distribution given mean μ and variance τ 2

μ/ τ 2 0.001 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05 0.055 0.06 0.065 0.07 0.075 0.08 0.0833
0.01
0.05
0.1 [0.045,0.155]
0.15 [0.095,0.205] [0.028,0.272]
0.2 [0.145,0.255] [0.078,0.322] [0.027,0.373]
0.25 [0.195,0.305] [0.128,0.372] [0.077,0.423] [0.038,0.462] [0.005,0.495]
0.3 [0.245,0.355] [0.178,0.422] [0.127,0.473] [0.088,0.512] [0.055,0.545] [0.026,0.574] [0,0.6]
0.35 [0.295,0.405] [0.228,0.472] [0.177,0.523] [0.138,0.562] [0.105,0.595] [0.076,0.624] [0.05,0.65] [0.026,0.674] [0.004,0.696]
0.4 [0.345,0.455] [0.278,0.522] [0.227,0.573] [0.188,0.612] [0.155,0.645] [0.126,0.674] [0.1,0.7] [0.076,0.724] [0.054,0.746] [0.033,0.767] [0.013,0.787]
0.45 [0.395,0.505] [0.328,0.572] [0.277,0.623] [0.238,0.662] [0.205,0.695] [0.176,0.724] [0.15,0.75] [0.126,0.774] [0.104,0.796] [0.083,0.817] [0.063,0.837] [0.044,0.856] [0.026,0.874] [0.008,0.892]
0.5 [0.445,0.555] [0.378,0.622] [0.327,0.673] [0.288,0.712] [0.255,0.745] [0.226,0.774] [0.2,0.8] [0.176,0.824] [0.154,0.846] [0.133,0.867] [0.113,0.887] [0.094,0.906] [0.076,0.924] [0.058,0.942] [0.042,0.958] [0.026,0.974] [0.01,0.99] [0,1]
0.55 [0.495,0.605] [0.428,0.672] [0.377,0.723] [0.338,0.762] [0.305,0.795] [0.276,0.824] [0.25,0.85] [0.226,0.874] [0.204,0.896] [0.183,0.917] [0.163,0.937] [0.144,0.956] [0.126,0.974] [0.108,0.992]
0.6 [0.545,0.655] [0.478,0.722] [0.427,0.773] [0.388,0.812] [0.355,0.845] [0.326,0.874] [0.3,0.9] [0.276,0.924] [0.254,0.946] [0.233,0.967] [0.213,0.987]
0.65 [0.595,0.705] [0.528,0.772] [0.477,0.823] [0.438,0.862] [0.405,0.895] [0.376,0.924] [0.35,0.95] [0.326,0.974] [0.304,0.996]
0.7 [0.645,0.755] [0.578,0.822] [0.527,0.873] [0.488,0.912] [0.455,0.945] [0.426,0.974] [0.4,1]
0.75 [0.695,0.805] [0.628,0.872] [0.577,0.923] [0.538,0.962] [0.505,0.995]
0.8 [0.745,0.855] [0.678,0.922] [0.627,0.973]
0.85 [0.795,0.905] [0.728,0.972]
0.9 [0.845,0.955]
0.95
0.99

Table 4.

Sample scenarios assuming beta priors p(π 1) and p(π 2) where τ12=τ22. Hypothesized values of π 1 and π 2 set equal to m 1 and m 2, respectively, under the traditional design. Two-sided α=0.05 and 1−β=0.80 assumed

Traditional design CEP design
(m 1,m 2) τ12=τ22 N^ Performance CEP N Performance E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1) P(π 2>π 1) Marginal benefit
(0.1,0.9) 0.001 10 0.797 0.518 12 0.742 0.783 1 0.1120
0.01 10 0.622 0.242 16 0.627 0.674 1 0.0642
0.02 10 0.508 0.164 26 0.673 0.585 0.993 0.0318
0.03 10 0.433 0.123 40 0.687 0.519 0.965 0.0188
0.04 10 0.381 0.099 60 0.698 0.469 0.915 0.0120
0.05 10 0.342 0.082 86 0.705 0.429 0.846 0.0082
0.06 10 0.311 0.070 120 0.710 0.397 0.761 0.0058
0.07 10 0.285 0.060 160 0.713 0.369 0.662 0.0044
0.08 10 0.262 0.052 214 0.716 0.342 0.545 0.0033
(0.1,0.8) or (0.2,0.9) 0.001 14 0.804 0.559 14 0.559 0.688 1 0
0.01 14 0.656 0.314 22 0.623 0.602 1 0.0386
0.02 14 0.553 0.237 34 0.674 0.529 0.989 0.0218
0.03 14 0.486 0.195 52 0.692 0.476 0.953 0.0131
0.04 14 0.439 0.168 76 0.702 0.438 0.896 0.0086
0.05 14 0.405 0.149 102 0.706 0.408 0.823 0.0063
0.06 14 0.377 0.134 134 0.711 0.383 0.740 0.0048
0.07 14 0.353 0.121 172 0.713 0.361 0.646 0.0037
0.08 14 0.331 0.110 218 0.716 0.340 0.540 0.0030
(0.1,0.7) or (0.3,0.9) 0.001 20 0.814 0.616 20 0.616 0.590 1 0
0.01 20 0.670 0.364 30 0.636 0.518 0.999 0.0272
0.02 20 0.578 0.295 48 0.677 0.463 0.979 0.0136
0.03 20 0.523 0.260 72 0.697 0.426 0.931 0.0084
0.04 20 0.488 0.238 98 0.705 0.401 0.866 0.0060
0.05 20 0.462 0.223 126 0.708 0.382 0.792 0.0046
0.06 20 0.442 0.211 154 0.712 0.367 0.712 0.0037
0.07 20 0.424 0.200 186 0.714 0.353 0.627 0.0031
0.08 20 0.407 0.189 222 0.716 0.338 0.534 0.0026
(0.2,0.8) 0.001 20 0.800 0.537 22 0.644 0.593 1 0.0537
0.01 20 0.676 0.372 30 0.643 0.530 0.999 0.0271
0.02 20 0.588 0.308 48 0.680 0.474 0.982 0.0133
0.03 20 0.532 0.272 70 0.695 0.435 0.936 0.0085
0.04 20 0.495 0.247 94 0.703 0.408 0.872 0.0062
0.05 20 0.467 0.229 122 0.709 0.387 0.798 0.0047
0.06 20 0.445 0.215 152 0.711 0.370 0.717 0.0038
0.07 20 0.425 0.202 184 0.714 0.354 0.630 0.0031
0.08 20 0.407 0.189 222 0.716 0.339 0.534 0.0026
(0.1,0.6) or (0.4,0.9) 0.001 28 0.804 0.572 28 0.572 0.491 1 0
0.01 28 0.655 0.368 48 0.660 0.430 0.996 0.0146
0.02 28 0.578 0.319 76 0.689 0.393 0.958 0.0077
0.03 28 0.540 0.299 106 0.701 0.374 0.895 0.0052
0.04 28 0.518 0.290 132 0.706 0.362 0.824 0.0040
0.05 28 0.504 0.285 158 0.710 0.355 0.752 0.0033
0.06 28 0.494 0.281 180 0.713 0.349 0.680 0.0028
0.07 28 0.486 0.278 202 0.714 0.343 0.606 0.0025
0.08 28 0.476 0.272 226 0.715 0.336 0.528 0.0022
(0.2,0.7) or (0.3,0.8) 0.001 30 0.803 0.558 30 0.558 0.494 1 0
0.01 30 0.682 0.412 46 0.653 0.446 0.998 0.0151
0.02 30 0.609 0.365 72 0.686 0.410 0.966 0.0076
0.03 30 0.570 0.342 100 0.700 0.388 0.907 0.0051
0.04 30 0.546 0.328 126 0.706 0.374 0.837 0.0039
0.05 30 0.529 0.317 150 0.710 0.363 0.763 0.0033
0.06 30 0.515 0.309 174 0.713 0.354 0.688 0.0028
0.07 30 0.503 0.300 198 0.714 0.346 0.611 0.0025
0.08 30 0.491 0.291 226 0.716 0.337 0.529 0.0022
(0.1,0.5) or (0.5,0.9) 0.001 40 0.781 0.488 42 0.566 0.392 1 0.0393
0.01 40 0.627 0.358 80 0.675 0.343 0.985 0.0079
0.02 40 0.573 0.335 124 0.697 0.326 0.918 0.0043
0.03 40 0.553 0.334 160 0.706 0.322 0.841 0.0031
0.04 40 0.546 0.339 182 0.709 0.324 0.769 0.0026
0.05 40 0.545 0.346 200 0.712 0.327 0.703 0.0023
0.06 40 0.545 0.353 210 0.713 0.331 0.642 0.0021
0.07 40 0.546 0.359 220 0.715 0.334 0.584 0.0020
0.08 40 0.545 0.362 230 0.716 0.334 0.522 0.0019
(0.2,0.6) or (0.4,0.8) 0.001 46 0.791 0.518 48 0.587 0.395 1 0.0345
0.01 46 0.668 0.422 80 0.668 0.360 0.991 0.0072
0.02 46 0.617 0.401 118 0.694 0.343 0.933 0.0041
0.03 46 0.597 0.397 150 0.704 0.339 0.860 0.0030
0.04 46 0.588 0.397 172 0.709 0.338 0.787 0.0025
0.05 46 0.584 0.399 190 0.712 0.338 0.719 0.0022
0.06 46 0.580 0.400 202 0.713 0.337 0.654 0.0020
0.07 46 0.577 0.400 216 0.714 0.337 0.589 0.0018
0.08 46 0.572 0.398 230 0.715 0.335 0.523 0.0017
(0.3,0.7) 0.001 48 0.793 0.524 50 0.558 0.396 1 0.0167
0.01 48 0.678 0.438 80 0.665 0.365 0.992 0.0071
0.02 48 0.629 0.419 118 0.695 0.349 0.938 0.0039
0.03 48 0.610 0.415 146 0.704 0.344 0.866 0.0029
0.04 48 0.601 0.415 168 0.709 0.342 0.794 0.0024
0.05 48 0.595 0.415 186 0.711 0.341 0.724 0.0021
0.06 48 0.591 0.415 200 0.714 0.340 0.658 0.0020
0.07 48 0.586 0.413 214 0.715 0.338 0.591 0.0018
0.08 48 0.580 0.409 230 0.715 0.335 0.523 0.0017
(0.1,0.4) or (0.6,0.9) 0.001 64 0.763 0.461 72 0.588 0.292 1 0.0159
0.01 64 0.612 0.377 156 0.689 0.262 0.951 0.0034
0.02 64 0.588 0.381 216 0.705 0.265 0.850 0.0021
0.03 64 0.588 0.397 242 0.709 0.276 0.768 0.0018
0.04 64 0.594 0.414 250 0.712 0.289 0.703 0.0016
0.05 64 0.603 0.432 250 0.714 0.302 0.649 0.0015
0.06 64 0.613 0.449 246 0.715 0.314 0.603 0.0015
0.07 64 0.622 0.464 238 0.715 0.325 0.560 0.0014
0.08 64 0.628 0.474 234 0.715 0.332 0.516 0.0014
(0.2,0.5) or (0.5,0.8) 0.001 78 0.776 0.491 84 0.584 0.296 1 0.0154
0.01 78 0.654 0.441 158 0.686 0.277 0.964 0.0031
0.02 78 0.635 0.450 210 0.703 0.282 0.872 0.0019
0.03 78 0.635 0.465 232 0.709 0.292 0.791 0.0016
0.04 78 0.640 0.480 238 0.711 0.302 0.724 0.0014
0.05 78 0.647 0.493 240 0.713 0.312 0.666 0.0014
0.06 78 0.653 0.504 238 0.714 0.321 0.615 0.0013
0.07 78 0.658 0.514 234 0.715 0.328 0.566 0.0013
0.08 78 0.661 0.520 234 0.716 0.332 0.517 0.0013
(0.3,0.6) or (0.4,0.7) 0.001 84 0.775 0.483 92 0.584 0.297 1 0.0126
0.01 84 0.666 0.457 162 0.683 0.283 0.968 0.0029
0.02 84 0.649 0.471 210 0.702 0.289 0.881 0.0018
0.03 84 0.652 0.489 228 0.708 0.300 0.802 0.0015
0.04 84 0.658 0.504 234 0.712 0.309 0.735 0.0014
0.05 84 0.663 0.516 234 0.713 0.318 0.676 0.0013
0.06 84 0.668 0.525 232 0.714 0.324 0.621 0.0013
0.07 84 0.671 0.532 232 0.715 0.329 0.569 0.0012
0.08 84 0.672 0.536 234 0.716 0.333 0.517 0.0012
(0.1,0.3) or (0.7,0.9) 0.001 124 0.736 0.453 152 0.614 0.194 1 0.0057
0.01 124 0.625 0.434 346 0.703 0.193 0.866 0.0012
0.02 124 0.636 0.470 374 0.710 0.216 0.750 0.0010
0.03 124 0.654 0.501 358 0.712 0.239 0.680 0.0009
0.04 124 0.671 0.528 334 0.714 0.261 0.631 0.0009
0.05 124 0.687 0.553 306 0.714 0.281 0.594 0.0009
0.06 124 0.701 0.575 280 0.715 0.300 0.565 0.0009
0.07 124 0.714 0.594 258 0.715 0.317 0.538 0.0009
0.08 124 0.725 0.610 240 0.716 0.330 0.510 0.0009
(0.2,0.4) or (0.6,0.8) 0.001 164 0.754 0.487 190 0.605 0.197 1 0.0045
0.01 164 0.667 0.496 372 0.702 0.205 0.887 0.0010
0.02 164 0.683 0.537 380 0.709 0.229 0.774 0.0008
0.03 164 0.701 0.568 356 0.712 0.251 0.702 0.0007
0.04 164 0.716 0.593 326 0.714 0.271 0.650 0.0007
0.05 164 0.730 0.614 300 0.714 0.289 0.609 0.0007
0.06 164 0.742 0.632 276 0.715 0.305 0.574 0.0007
0.07 164 0.752 0.647 254 0.715 0.319 0.543 0.0008
0.08 164 0.760 0.659 240 0.716 0.330 0.511 0.0008
(0.3,0.5) or (0.5,0.7) 0.001 186 0.755 0.487 214 0.605 0.198 1 0.0042
0.01 186 0.679 0.513 394 0.700 0.210 0.896 0.0009
0.02 186 0.699 0.560 390 0.709 0.236 0.787 0.0007
0.03 186 0.719 0.594 356 0.712 0.259 0.715 0.0007
0.04 186 0.735 0.620 324 0.713 0.278 0.662 0.0007
0.05 186 0.748 0.640 294 0.714 0.294 0.619 0.0007
0.06 186 0.759 0.656 272 0.715 0.308 0.581 0.0007
0.07 186 0.768 0.669 252 0.715 0.321 0.546 0.0007
0.08 186 0.774 0.679 238 0.716 0.331 0.511 0.0007
(0.4,0.6) 0.001 194 0.757 0.491 222 0.603 0.198 1 0.0040
0.01 194 0.683 0.518 402 0.700 0.211 0.898 0.0009
0.02 194 0.704 0.567 396 0.709 0.238 0.791 0.0007
0.03 194 0.724 0.602 358 0.712 0.261 0.720 0.0007
0.04 194 0.741 0.628 322 0.713 0.280 0.666 0.0007
0.05 194 0.754 0.648 294 0.714 0.296 0.622 0.0007
0.06 194 0.765 0.664 270 0.715 0.310 0.583 0.0007
0.07 194 0.773 0.677 252 0.715 0.321 0.547 0.0007
0.08 194 0.779 0.686 238 0.716 0.331 0.511 0.0007
(0.1,0.2) or (0.8,0.9) 0.001 398 0.683 0.470 676 0.675 0.098 0.981 0.0007
0.01 398 0.712 0.584 794 0.712 0.141 0.708 0.0003
0.02 398 0.750 0.642 618 0.714 0.179 0.626 0.0003
0.03 398 0.775 0.679 504 0.715 0.211 0.586 0.0003
0.04 398 0.794 0.706 424 0.715 0.239 0.562 0.0003
0.05 398 0.809 0.728 364 0.715 0.265 0.544 0.0004
0.06 398 0.822 0.747 316 0.716 0.288 0.530 0.0004
0.07 398 0.833 0.763 276 0.716 0.310 0.518 0.0004
0.08 398 0.843 0.777 244 0.716 0.328 0.505 0.0004
(0.2,0.3) or (0.7,0.8) 0.001 588 0.701 0.495 924 0.672 0.100 0.985 0.0005
0.01 588 0.746 0.633 922 0.711 0.149 0.727 0.0002
0.02 588 0.787 0.695 666 0.714 0.188 0.644 0.0002
0.03 588 0.812 0.731 524 0.715 0.218 0.601 0.0003
0.04 588 0.829 0.756 432 0.715 0.245 0.573 0.0003
0.05 588 0.842 0.775 366 0.716 0.269 0.552 0.0003
0.06 588 0.853 0.791 316 0.716 0.291 0.535 0.0003
0.07 588 0.863 0.805 276 0.716 0.311 0.520 0.0003
0.08 588 0.871 0.816 244 0.716 0.328 0.506 0.0003
(0.3,0.4) or (0.6,0.7) 0.001 712 0.704 0.500 1100 0.671 0.101 0.986 0.0004
0.01 712 0.756 0.647 1034 0.711 0.153 0.736 0.0002
0.02 712 0.800 0.713 714 0.714 0.193 0.654 0.0005
0.03 712 0.825 0.751 544 0.714 0.224 0.611 0.0002
0.04 712 0.843 0.776 440 0.715 0.250 0.581 0.0002
0.05 712 0.856 0.795 368 0.715 0.273 0.559 0.0002
0.06 712 0.867 0.810 314 0.716 0.294 0.540 0.0002
0.07 712 0.875 0.823 274 0.716 0.312 0.523 0.0002
0.08 712 0.882 0.833 244 0.716 0.329 0.506 0.0003
(0.4,0.5) or (0.5,0.6) 0.001 776 0.706 0.502 1190 0.670 0.101 0.986 0.0004
0.01 776 0.760 0.652 1096 0.711 0.154 0.740 0.0002
0.02 776 0.804 0.720 744 0.713 0.195 0.659 0.0002
0.03 776 0.831 0.758 558 0.714 0.226 0.615 0.0002
0.04 776 0.849 0.784 446 0.715 0.253 0.586 0.0002
0.05 776 0.862 0.803 368 0.715 0.275 0.562 0.0002
0.06 776 0.872 0.818 314 0.716 0.295 0.542 0.0002
0.07 776 0.881 0.830 274 0.716 0.313 0.524 0.0002
0.08 776 0.887 0.840 244 0.716 0.329 0.506 0.0002

Table 5.

Sample scenarios assuming beta priors p(π 1) and p(π 2) where τ12=0.001. Hypothesized values of π 1 and π 2 set equal to m 1 and m 2, respectively, under the traditional design. Two-sided α=0.05 and 1−β=0.80 assumed

(τ12=0.001) Traditional design CEP design
(m 1,m 2) τ22 N^ Performance CEP N Performance E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1) P(π 2>π 1) Marginal benefit
(0.1,0.9) 0.01 10 0.344 0.706 14 0.640 0.728 1 0.0740
0.02 10 0.280 0.639 16 0.615 0.682 1 0.0559
0.03 10 0.239 0.586 20 0.655 0.640 0.999 0.0416
0.04 10 0.208 0.539 24 0.659 0.601 0.997 0.0322
0.05 10 0.184 0.497 30 0.671 0.564 0.991 0.0244
0.06 10 0.163 0.459 38 0.687 0.528 0.979 0.0187
0.07 10 0.144 0.424 50 0.693 0.494 0.955 0.0137
0.08 10 0.127 0.389 70 0.703 0.459 0.913 0.0096
(0.1,0.8) 0.01 14 0.439 0.748 16 0.586 0.656 1 0.0735
0.02 14 0.389 0.697 20 0.623 0.624 1 0.0390
0.03 14 0.353 0.652 24 0.651 0.592 0.999 0.0298
0.04 14 0.324 0.611 28 0.667 0.561 0.997 0.0245
0.05 14 0.299 0.574 34 0.674 0.533 0.990 0.0187
0.06 14 0.278 0.540 44 0.687 0.505 0.975 0.0136
0.07 14 0.259 0.509 56 0.695 0.480 0.950 0.0104
0.08 14 0.241 0.480 72 0.703 0.455 0.910 0.0080
(0.1,0.7) 0.01 20 0.507 0.773 22 0.603 0.572 1 0.0481
0.02 20 0.466 0.732 26 0.623 0.552 1 0.0262
0.03 20 0.438 0.695 30 0.643 0.532 0.999 0.0205
0.04 20 0.416 0.662 36 0.667 0.513 0.995 0.0157
0.05 20 0.397 0.633 42 0.680 0.494 0.986 0.0129
0.06 20 0.382 0.607 52 0.691 0.478 0.969 0.0097
0.07 20 0.369 0.585 62 0.696 0.464 0.943 0.0078
0.08 20 0.358 0.566 76 0.705 0.450 0.906 0.0062
(0.2,0.8) 0.01 20 0.430 0.734 24 0.601 0.561 1 0.0428
0.02 20 0.382 0.676 30 0.641 0.528 0.999 0.0259
0.03 20 0.349 0.628 38 0.666 0.499 0.995 0.0176
0.04 20 0.324 0.589 48 0.681 0.473 0.982 0.0127
0.05 20 0.305 0.557 62 0.693 0.452 0.960 0.0092
0.06 20 0.289 0.530 76 0.699 0.434 0.927 0.0073
0.07 20 0.276 0.508 96 0.706 0.418 0.881 0.0057
0.08 20 0.264 0.488 118 0.710 0.403 0.821 0.0046
(0.1,0.6) 0.01 28 0.511 0.770 32 0.604 0.483 1 0.0231
0.02 28 0.490 0.737 36 0.631 0.474 1 0.0175
0.03 28 0.477 0.708 40 0.651 0.465 0.998 0.0145
0.04 28 0.467 0.685 46 0.667 0.457 0.991 0.0111
0.05 28 0.461 0.667 54 0.685 0.452 0.978 0.0086
0.06 28 0.458 0.653 62 0.691 0.448 0.959 0.0069
0.07 28 0.457 0.643 70 0.698 0.446 0.934 0.0057
0.08 28 0.458 0.636 78 0.704 0.446 0.903 0.0049
(0.2,0.7) 0.01 30 0.479 0.750 36 0.608 0.477 1 0.0214
0.02 30 0.447 0.702 44 0.649 0.458 0.999 0.0144
0.03 30 0.426 0.664 54 0.671 0.441 0.991 0.0102
0.04 30 0.411 0.636 66 0.686 0.427 0.974 0.0076
0.05 30 0.401 0.615 78 0.695 0.417 0.947 0.0061
0.06 30 0.395 0.599 92 0.702 0.410 0.912 0.0050
0.07 30 0.391 0.587 106 0.706 0.404 0.868 0.0042
0.08 30 0.388 0.578 122 0.711 0.400 0.816 0.0035
(0.1,0.5) 0.01 40 0.490 0.751 48 0.614 0.392 1 0.0155
0.02 40 0.493 0.725 54 0.643 0.392 0.999 0.0107
0.03 40 0.498 0.708 60 0.666 0.395 0.993 0.0084
0.04 40 0.504 0.697 66 0.678 0.400 0.981 0.0067
0.05 40 0.514 0.692 72 0.689 0.407 0.965 0.0055
0.06 40 0.525 0.692 76 0.695 0.417 0.945 0.0047
0.07 40 0.538 0.694 80 0.701 0.429 0.923 0.0041
0.08 40 0.552 0.699 80 0.705 0.442 0.899 0.0038
(0.2,0.6) 0.01 46 0.487 0.742 56 0.624 0.388 1 0.0137
0.02 46 0.475 0.704 68 0.659 0.380 0.996 0.0083
0.03 46 0.471 0.679 82 0.678 0.376 0.981 0.0057
0.04 46 0.472 0.665 94 0.691 0.376 0.956 0.0046
0.05 46 0.477 0.658 106 0.698 0.379 0.925 0.0037
0.06 46 0.484 0.655 114 0.704 0.384 0.890 0.0032
0.07 46 0.493 0.655 120 0.707 0.390 0.851 0.0029
0.08 46 0.502 0.658 126 0.711 0.396 0.810 0.0026
(0.3,0.7) 0.01 48 0.465 0.724 62 0.630 0.379 1 0.0118
0.02 48 0.440 0.673 82 0.670 0.363 0.990 0.0068
0.03 48 0.429 0.643 104 0.689 0.354 0.963 0.0046
0.04 48 0.426 0.626 124 0.698 0.349 0.924 0.0036
0.05 48 0.425 0.616 144 0.705 0.347 0.879 0.0029
0.06 48 0.427 0.610 158 0.708 0.347 0.829 0.0026
0.07 48 0.431 0.607 172 0.711 0.348 0.776 0.0023
0.08 48 0.435 0.605 182 0.713 0.349 0.718 0.0021
(0.1,0.4) 0.01 64 0.497 0.735 82 0.635 0.300 0.999 0.0077
0.02 64 0.519 0.720 92 0.667 0.312 0.992 0.0053
0.03 64 0.540 0.717 98 0.680 0.328 0.977 0.0041
0.04 64 0.563 0.722 102 0.691 0.346 0.960 0.0034
0.05 64 0.585 0.730 100 0.696 0.366 0.942 0.0031
0.06 64 0.608 0.741 96 0.700 0.388 0.925 0.0029
0.07 64 0.632 0.754 90 0.703 0.412 0.909 0.0027
0.08 64 0.656 0.768 84 0.706 0.437 0.895 0.0025
(0.2,0.5) 0.01 78 0.496 0.726 104 0.644 0.297 0.998 0.0057
0.02 78 0.505 0.701 126 0.677 0.302 0.982 0.0036
0.03 78 0.521 0.695 140 0.691 0.313 0.954 0.0027
0.04 78 0.540 0.698 148 0.699 0.327 0.922 0.0023
0.05 78 0.559 0.705 148 0.704 0.342 0.890 0.0021
0.06 78 0.579 0.715 144 0.707 0.358 0.860 0.0019
0.07 78 0.599 0.726 138 0.709 0.375 0.831 0.0018
0.08 78 0.620 0.738 130 0.711 0.393 0.804 0.0018
(0.3,0.6) 0.01 84 0.474 0.708 120 0.652 0.291 0.997 0.0049
0.02 84 0.477 0.677 156 0.684 0.290 0.970 0.0029
0.03 84 0.489 0.668 180 0.697 0.297 0.928 0.0022
0.04 84 0.504 0.669 194 0.704 0.305 0.882 0.0018
0.05 84 0.520 0.674 198 0.707 0.315 0.838 0.0016
0.06 84 0.536 0.681 198 0.710 0.325 0.795 0.0015
0.07 84 0.551 0.689 194 0.712 0.336 0.753 0.0015
0.08 84 0.566 0.698 188 0.713 0.346 0.712 0.0014
(0.1,0.3) 0.01 124 0.525 0.718 182 0.671 0.214 0.987 0.0025
0.02 124 0.574 0.730 186 0.688 0.242 0.960 0.0018
0.03 124 0.614 0.749 174 0.695 0.271 0.937 0.0016
0.04 124 0.650 0.768 156 0.699 0.301 0.920 0.0016
0.05 124 0.681 0.787 138 0.702 0.332 0.908 0.0015
0.06 124 0.710 0.805 120 0.704 0.363 0.899 0.0015
0.07 124 0.738 0.822 102 0.704 0.397 0.894 0.0015
0.08 124 0.765 0.840 86 0.705 0.433 0.891 0.0016
(0.2,0.4) 0.01 164 0.524 0.711 254 0.678 0.210 0.979 0.0017
0.02 164 0.565 0.718 272 0.695 0.233 0.934 0.0012
0.03 164 0.602 0.735 260 0.702 0.258 0.895 0.0010
0.04 164 0.635 0.753 236 0.706 0.283 0.864 0.0010
0.05 164 0.665 0.771 208 0.708 0.309 0.841 0.0010
0.06 164 0.692 0.789 182 0.710 0.335 0.822 0.0010
0.07 164 0.718 0.805 156 0.710 0.362 0.809 0.0010
0.08 164 0.742 0.822 134 0.711 0.389 0.798 0.0010
(0.3,0.5) 0.01 186 0.509 0.697 314 0.683 0.205 0.971 0.0014
0.02 186 0.545 0.701 348 0.699 0.224 0.909 0.0010
0.03 186 0.580 0.717 336 0.705 0.244 0.857 0.0008
0.04 186 0.610 0.734 310 0.708 0.265 0.815 0.0008
0.05 186 0.638 0.751 280 0.711 0.285 0.780 0.0008
0.06 186 0.663 0.767 250 0.711 0.304 0.751 0.0008
0.07 186 0.686 0.782 222 0.713 0.324 0.726 0.0008
0.08 186 0.707 0.796 194 0.714 0.343 0.704 0.0008
(0.4,0.6) 0.01 194 0.495 0.684 354 0.686 0.200 0.962 0.0012
0.02 194 0.526 0.685 406 0.702 0.214 0.885 0.0008
0.03 194 0.556 0.698 402 0.707 0.229 0.820 0.0007
0.04 194 0.582 0.712 382 0.710 0.244 0.767 0.0007
0.05 194 0.605 0.726 354 0.712 0.258 0.722 0.0007
0.06 194 0.626 0.739 326 0.713 0.272 0.682 0.0007
0.07 194 0.645 0.751 300 0.714 0.284 0.646 0.0007
0.08 194 0.662 0.763 274 0.715 0.296 0.610 0.0007
(0.1,0.2) 0.01 398 0.626 0.752 562 0.701 0.145 0.897 0.0005
0.02 398 0.703 0.799 402 0.705 0.190 0.870 0.0005
0.03 398 0.751 0.830 302 0.706 0.230 0.861 0.0005
0.04 398 0.786 0.853 234 0.706 0.268 0.861 0.0005
0.05 398 0.814 0.872 184 0.707 0.305 0.864 0.0005
0.06 398 0.837 0.888 146 0.707 0.343 0.870 0.0005
0.07 398 0.859 0.903 116 0.707 0.384 0.878 0.0005
0.08 398 0.879 0.917 88 0.706 0.429 0.887 0.0006
(0.2,0.3) 0.01 588 0.623 0.747 874 0.704 0.140 0.864 0.0003
0.02 588 0.697 0.792 630 0.708 0.180 0.813 0.0003
0.03 588 0.743 0.823 470 0.710 0.216 0.791 0.0003
0.04 588 0.778 0.846 362 0.711 0.250 0.782 0.0003
0.05 588 0.806 0.865 284 0.711 0.283 0.779 0.0003
0.06 588 0.829 0.881 224 0.711 0.316 0.780 0.0003
0.07 588 0.849 0.895 176 0.711 0.350 0.785 0.0003
0.08 588 0.868 0.909 138 0.711 0.386 0.793 0.0004
(0.3,0.4) 0.01 712 0.614 0.739 1126 0.706 0.136 0.841 0.0002
0.02 712 0.684 0.783 830 0.710 0.171 0.774 0.0002
0.03 712 0.730 0.813 628 0.711 0.202 0.740 0.0002
0.04 712 0.764 0.836 488 0.712 0.231 0.720 0.0002
0.05 712 0.791 0.854 388 0.713 0.259 0.708 0.0002
0.06 712 0.814 0.870 310 0.713 0.286 0.701 0.0003
0.07 712 0.834 0.884 250 0.713 0.313 0.697 0.0003
0.08 712 0.852 0.896 200 0.714 0.341 0.697 0.0003
(0.4,0.5) 0.01 776 0.605 0.732 1298 0.707 0.132 0.823 0.0002
0.02 776 0.672 0.773 984 0.711 0.163 0.742 0.0002
0.03 776 0.715 0.802 762 0.712 0.189 0.698 0.0002
0.04 776 0.747 0.824 608 0.713 0.213 0.668 0.0002
0.05 776 0.773 0.841 494 0.714 0.234 0.646 0.0002
0.06 776 0.794 0.856 406 0.714 0.255 0.629 0.0002
0.07 776 0.813 0.869 338 0.715 0.275 0.614 0.0002
0.08 776 0.829 0.880 282 0.715 0.294 0.602 0.0002

Table 6.

Sample scenarios assuming beta priors p(π 1) and p(π 2) where τ12=0.08. Hypothesized values of π 1 and π 2 set equal to m 1 and m 2, respectively, under the traditional design. Two-sided α=0.05 and 1−β=0.80 assumed

(τ12=0.08) Traditional design CEP design
(m 1,m 2) τ22 N^ Performance CEP N Performance E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1) P(π 2>π 1) Marginal benefit
(0.1,0.9) 0.001 10 0.127 0.389 70 0.703 0.459 0.913 0.0096
0.01 10 0.097 0.356 88 0.707 0.435 0.861 0.0078
0.02 10 0.083 0.335 102 0.709 0.417 0.815 0.0068
0.03 10 0.075 0.319 118 0.711 0.402 0.774 0.0059
0.04 10 0.069 0.306 132 0.712 0.389 0.734 0.0053
0.05 10 0.064 0.294 148 0.713 0.378 0.693 0.0047
0.06 10 0.060 0.283 166 0.713 0.366 0.650 0.0042
0.07 10 0.056 0.273 186 0.714 0.355 0.602 0.0037
(0.1,0.8) 0.001 14 0.147 0.399 114 0.710 0.407 0.825 0.0056
0.01 14 0.134 0.387 124 0.710 0.396 0.794 0.0052
0.02 14 0.128 0.377 134 0.711 0.386 0.760 0.0049
0.03 14 0.124 0.368 146 0.712 0.378 0.728 0.0045
0.04 14 0.121 0.360 158 0.713 0.370 0.695 0.0041
0.05 14 0.118 0.353 170 0.713 0.362 0.661 0.0038
0.06 14 0.116 0.346 184 0.714 0.355 0.625 0.0035
0.07 14 0.113 0.339 198 0.715 0.348 0.586 0.0033
(0.1,0.7) 0.001 20 0.174 0.415 172 0.713 0.355 0.731 0.0035
0.01 20 0.172 0.414 176 0.713 0.353 0.712 0.0035
0.02 20 0.174 0.413 182 0.713 0.350 0.691 0.0033
0.03 20 0.177 0.412 188 0.714 0.348 0.669 0.0032
0.04 20 0.180 0.411 192 0.714 0.346 0.646 0.0031
0.05 20 0.183 0.410 200 0.715 0.344 0.622 0.0030
0.06 20 0.185 0.409 206 0.714 0.342 0.596 0.0028
0.07 20 0.187 0.408 214 0.715 0.340 0.567 0.0027
(0.2,0.8) 0.001 20 0.264 0.488 118 0.710 0.403 0.821 0.0046
0.01 20 0.247 0.475 128 0.711 0.393 0.789 0.0043
0.02 20 0.233 0.462 138 0.712 0.384 0.755 0.0041
0.03 20 0.223 0.451 150 0.712 0.375 0.723 0.0038
0.04 20 0.215 0.442 162 0.713 0.367 0.690 0.0035
0.05 20 0.208 0.433 174 0.713 0.360 0.656 0.0033
0.06 20 0.201 0.424 188 0.714 0.353 0.620 0.0031
0.07 20 0.195 0.416 202 0.715 0.346 0.580 0.0029
(0.1,0.6) 0.001 28 0.193 0.426 252 0.715 0.303 0.632 0.0023
0.01 28 0.199 0.431 250 0.715 0.307 0.623 0.0023
0.02 28 0.209 0.437 246 0.715 0.311 0.613 0.0023
0.03 28 0.220 0.443 244 0.715 0.316 0.601 0.0023
0.04 28 0.231 0.449 240 0.715 0.320 0.589 0.0023
0.05 28 0.241 0.456 238 0.715 0.324 0.576 0.0023
0.06 28 0.252 0.463 234 0.715 0.328 0.562 0.0022
0.07 28 0.262 0.469 230 0.715 0.332 0.546 0.0022
(0.2,0.7) 0.001 30 0.302 0.510 178 0.713 0.352 0.725 0.0028
0.01 30 0.298 0.507 182 0.713 0.350 0.706 0.0027
0.02 30 0.295 0.504 186 0.714 0.348 0.685 0.0027
0.03 30 0.293 0.502 192 0.714 0.346 0.663 0.0026
0.04 30 0.292 0.499 198 0.714 0.344 0.640 0.0025
0.05 30 0.291 0.497 204 0.714 0.342 0.616 0.0024
0.06 30 0.291 0.495 210 0.715 0.340 0.590 0.0024
0.07 30 0.291 0.493 218 0.715 0.338 0.561 0.0023
(0.1,0.5) 0.001 40 0.213 0.437 364 0.716 0.253 0.531 0.0016
0.01 40 0.226 0.448 350 0.716 0.262 0.530 0.0016
0.02 40 0.244 0.461 334 0.716 0.272 0.529 0.0016
0.03 40 0.264 0.474 318 0.716 0.282 0.528 0.0016
0.04 40 0.283 0.488 300 0.715 0.293 0.527 0.0017
0.05 40 0.303 0.502 284 0.716 0.303 0.526 0.0017
0.06 40 0.323 0.516 266 0.716 0.313 0.525 0.0017
0.07 40 0.342 0.530 248 0.716 0.324 0.523 0.0018
(0.2,0.6) 0.001 46 0.343 0.536 258 0.715 0.301 0.625 0.0018
0.01 46 0.347 0.539 256 0.715 0.305 0.617 0.0018
0.02 46 0.352 0.543 252 0.715 0.309 0.606 0.0018
0.03 46 0.359 0.547 250 0.715 0.314 0.595 0.0017
0.04 46 0.366 0.552 246 0.715 0.318 0.583 0.0017
0.05 46 0.373 0.556 242 0.715 0.322 0.570 0.0017
0.06 46 0.382 0.562 238 0.715 0.326 0.556 0.0017
0.07 46 0.390 0.567 234 0.716 0.330 0.540 0.0017
(0.3,0.7) 0.001 48 0.435 0.605 182 0.713 0.349 0.718 0.0021
0.01 48 0.431 0.602 186 0.713 0.347 0.700 0.0020
0.02 48 0.427 0.599 192 0.714 0.345 0.679 0.0020
0.03 48 0.423 0.596 196 0.714 0.343 0.657 0.0020
0.04 48 0.419 0.592 202 0.714 0.342 0.634 0.0019
0.05 48 0.416 0.589 208 0.715 0.340 0.610 0.0019
0.06 48 0.414 0.586 214 0.715 0.338 0.584 0.0018
0.07 48 0.411 0.583 222 0.715 0.336 0.555 0.0017
(0.1,0.4) 0.001 64 0.258 0.468 532 0.716 0.202 0.428 0.0010
0.01 64 0.281 0.486 494 0.716 0.217 0.435 0.0010
0.02 64 0.308 0.506 452 0.716 0.234 0.444 0.0011
0.03 64 0.336 0.526 412 0.716 0.250 0.454 0.0011
0.04 64 0.363 0.546 374 0.716 0.267 0.464 0.0011
0.05 64 0.391 0.566 338 0.716 0.283 0.475 0.0012
0.06 64 0.418 0.586 302 0.716 0.299 0.487 0.0013
0.07 64 0.446 0.607 268 0.716 0.316 0.501 0.0013
(0.2,0.5) 0.001 78 0.404 0.577 374 0.716 0.251 0.524 0.0011
0.01 78 0.414 0.585 358 0.716 0.260 0.523 0.0011
0.02 78 0.427 0.594 342 0.716 0.270 0.522 0.0011
0.03 78 0.441 0.604 326 0.716 0.281 0.521 0.0011
0.04 78 0.455 0.615 308 0.716 0.291 0.521 0.0011
0.05 78 0.470 0.625 290 0.716 0.301 0.520 0.0012
0.06 78 0.486 0.637 272 0.716 0.312 0.519 0.0012
0.07 78 0.503 0.649 254 0.716 0.322 0.518 0.0012
(0.3,0.6) 0.001 84 0.497 0.647 266 0.715 0.299 0.618 0.0012
0.01 84 0.501 0.649 264 0.715 0.303 0.609 0.0012
0.02 84 0.505 0.652 260 0.715 0.307 0.599 0.0012
0.03 84 0.509 0.655 256 0.715 0.311 0.588 0.0012
0.04 84 0.514 0.658 252 0.715 0.316 0.576 0.0012
0.05 84 0.519 0.661 248 0.715 0.320 0.564 0.0012
0.06 84 0.524 0.665 244 0.715 0.324 0.550 0.0012
0.07 84 0.530 0.668 240 0.716 0.328 0.534 0.0012
(0.1,0.3) 0.001 124 0.339 0.526 808 0.717 0.153 0.323 0.0006
0.01 124 0.376 0.554 708 0.717 0.176 0.341 0.0006
0.02 124 0.414 0.582 612 0.717 0.200 0.361 0.0006
0.03 124 0.450 0.608 530 0.717 0.223 0.382 0.0007
0.04 124 0.483 0.632 458 0.717 0.245 0.404 0.0007
0.05 124 0.515 0.656 394 0.717 0.266 0.428 0.0007
0.06 124 0.546 0.679 338 0.717 0.287 0.452 0.0008
0.07 124 0.578 0.702 286 0.716 0.308 0.480 0.0009
(0.2,0.4) 0.001 164 0.502 0.647 546 0.717 0.201 0.420 0.0006
0.01 164 0.519 0.659 506 0.716 0.216 0.428 0.0006
0.02 164 0.537 0.672 464 0.717 0.233 0.437 0.0006
0.03 164 0.557 0.686 422 0.717 0.249 0.447 0.0006
0.04 164 0.576 0.700 382 0.716 0.265 0.457 0.0006
0.05 164 0.596 0.715 344 0.716 0.282 0.469 0.0007
0.06 164 0.617 0.730 308 0.716 0.298 0.482 0.0007
0.07 164 0.638 0.745 272 0.716 0.314 0.495 0.0007
(0.3,0.5) 0.001 186 0.597 0.716 384 0.716 0.249 0.516 0.0006
0.01 186 0.605 0.721 368 0.716 0.258 0.515 0.0006
0.02 186 0.614 0.728 352 0.716 0.269 0.515 0.0006
0.03 186 0.623 0.735 334 0.716 0.279 0.514 0.0006
0.04 186 0.633 0.742 314 0.716 0.289 0.514 0.0006
0.05 186 0.644 0.749 296 0.716 0.299 0.513 0.0007
0.06 186 0.655 0.757 278 0.716 0.310 0.513 0.0007
0.07 186 0.667 0.766 258 0.716 0.320 0.512 0.0007
(0.4,0.6) 0.001 194 0.662 0.763 274 0.715 0.296 0.610 0.0007
0.01 194 0.664 0.764 270 0.715 0.301 0.602 0.0007
0.02 194 0.667 0.766 266 0.715 0.305 0.592 0.0007
0.03 194 0.669 0.768 262 0.715 0.309 0.581 0.0007
0.04 194 0.672 0.770 258 0.715 0.314 0.569 0.0007
0.05 194 0.675 0.772 254 0.715 0.318 0.557 0.0007
0.06 194 0.679 0.774 250 0.716 0.322 0.543 0.0007
0.07 194 0.682 0.777 244 0.716 0.326 0.528 0.0007
(0.1,0.2) 0.001 398 0.506 0.648 1346 0.717 0.104 0.218 0.0002
0.01 398 0.563 0.691 978 0.714 0.139 0.247 0.0003
0.02 398 0.606 0.720 814 0.717 0.172 0.286 0.0003
0.03 398 0.642 0.746 660 0.717 0.201 0.319 0.0003
0.04 398 0.673 0.768 542 0.717 0.227 0.352 0.0003
0.05 398 0.700 0.788 450 0.717 0.253 0.386 0.0003
0.06 398 0.726 0.807 372 0.717 0.277 0.422 0.0004
0.07 398 0.751 0.825 304 0.716 0.302 0.460 0.0004
(0.2,0.3) 0.001 588 0.667 0.765 828 0.717 0.152 0.316 0.0002
0.01 588 0.691 0.783 694 0.714 0.175 0.330 0.0002
0.02 588 0.709 0.794 624 0.717 0.199 0.355 0.0002
0.03 588 0.728 0.808 540 0.717 0.222 0.376 0.0002
0.04 588 0.747 0.821 466 0.717 0.243 0.398 0.0002
0.05 588 0.764 0.834 402 0.717 0.265 0.422 0.0003
0.06 588 0.781 0.846 344 0.717 0.286 0.447 0.0003
0.07 588 0.799 0.858 292 0.716 0.307 0.474 0.0003
(0.3,0.4) 0.001 712 0.748 0.822 560 0.717 0.200 0.413 0.0002
0.01 712 0.761 0.832 502 0.715 0.215 0.416 0.0002
0.02 712 0.767 0.836 474 0.717 0.231 0.430 0.0002
0.03 712 0.778 0.843 432 0.716 0.248 0.440 0.0002
0.04 712 0.788 0.851 390 0.716 0.264 0.451 0.0002
0.05 712 0.799 0.859 352 0.716 0.280 0.462 0.0002
0.06 712 0.810 0.866 314 0.716 0.296 0.475 0.0002
0.07 712 0.821 0.874 278 0.716 0.312 0.490 0.0002
(0.4,0.5) 0.001 776 0.797 0.857 394 0.716 0.247 0.508 0.0002
0.01 776 0.803 0.863 368 0.714 0.257 0.503 0.0002
0.02 776 0.806 0.863 360 0.716 0.267 0.507 0.0002
0.03 776 0.811 0.867 342 0.716 0.277 0.507 0.0002
0.04 776 0.816 0.871 322 0.716 0.287 0.507 0.0002
0.05 776 0.822 0.875 302 0.716 0.298 0.506 0.0002
0.06 776 0.827 0.879 284 0.716 0.308 0.506 0.0002
0.07 776 0.834 0.883 264 0.716 0.318 0.506 0.0002

Table 7.

Sample scenarios assuming uniform priors p(π 1) and p(π 2) where τ12=τ22. Hypothesized values of π 1 and π 2 set equal to μ 1 and μ 2, respectively, under the traditional design. Two-sided α=0.05 and 1−β=0.80 assumed

Traditional design CEP design
(μ 1,μ 2) τ12=τ22 N^ Performance CEP N Performance E(π 2π 1|π 2>π 1) P(π 2>π 1) Marginal benefit
(0.1,0.9) 0.001 10 0.638 0.826 10 0.638 0.800 1 0
(0.1,0.8) or (0.2,0.9) 0.001 14 0.643 0.824 14 0.643 0.700 1 0
(0.1,0.7) or (0.3,0.9) 0.001 20 0.680 0.831 20 0.680 0.600 1 0
(0.2,0.8) 0.001 20 0.593 0.811 20 0.593 0.600 1 0
0.01 20 0.556 0.775 22 0.615 0.600 1 0.030
(0.1,0.6)or (0.4,0.9) 0.001 28 0.633 0.822 28 0.633 0.500 1 0
(0.2,0.7)or (0.3,0.8) 0.001 30 0.599 0.812 30 0.599 0.500 1 0
0.01 30 0.554 0.763 36 0.650 0.500 1 0.016
(0.1,0.5) or (0.5,0.9) 0.001 40 0.551 0.801 40 0.551 0.400 1 0
(0.2,0.6) or (0.4,0.8) 0.001 46 0.553 0.800 46 0.553 0.400 1 0
0.01 46 0.535 0.735 62 0.663 0.400 1 0.008
(0.3,0.7) 0.001 48 0.555 0.800 48 0.555 0.400 1 0
0.01 48 0.536 0.735 64 0.660 0.400 1 0.008
0.02 48 0.549 0.711 80 0.694 0.407 0.983 0.005
0.03 48 0.575 0.718 82 0.702 0.427 0.945 0.004
(0.1,0.4) or (0.6,0.9) 0.001 64 0.523 0.787 68 0.589 0.300 1 0.017
(0.2,0.5) or (0.5,0.8) 0.001 78 0.521 0.786 82 0.581 0.300 1 0.015
0.01 78 0.526 0.704 130 0.689 0.303 0.991 0.003
(0.3,0.6) or (0.4,0.7) 0.001 84 0.506 0.781 90 0.591 0.300 1 0.014
0.01 84 0.521 0.701 142 0.690 0.303 0.991 0.003
0.02 84 0.566 0.712 150 0.704 0.330 0.925 0.002
0.03 84 0.603 0.731 140 0.709 0.357 0.875 0.002
(0.1,0.3) or (0.7,0.9) 0.001 124 0.510 0.764 140 0.600 0.200 1 0.006
(0.2,0.4) or (0.6,0.8) 0.001 164 0.512 0.764 184 0.603 0.200 1 0.005
0.01 164 0.566 0.713 292 0.703 0.224 0.911 0.001
(0.3,0.5) or (0.5,0.7) 0.001 186 0.504 0.761 210 0.603 0.200 1 0.004
0.01 186 0.562 0.710 336 0.704 0.224 0.911 0.001
0.02 186 0.626 0.745 284 0.709 0.263 0.825 0.001
0.03 186 0.669 0.772 236 0.710 0.295 0.778 0.001
(0.4,0.6) 0.001 194 0.504 0.761 220 0.607 0.200 1 0.004
0.01 194 0.562 0.709 350 0.704 0.224 0.911 0.001
0.02 194 0.625 0.745 296 0.708 0.263 0.825 0.001
0.03 194 0.668 0.771 248 0.711 0.295 0.778 0.001
0.04 194 0.700 0.792 210 0.712 0.323 0.747 0.001
0.05 194 0.725 0.809 194 0.725 0.349 0.725 0

Acknowledgements

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the United States Government.

Authors’ contributions

MMC developed the concept and performed the literature search, simulations, data analysis, interpretation of results, and manuscript writing. CDA performed simulations and data analysis, interpretation of results, and manuscript writing. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Abbreviations

CEP

Conditional expected power

EP

Expected power

Contributor Information

Maria M. Ciarleglio, Email: maria.ciarleglio@yale.edu

Christopher D. Arendt, Email: christopher.arendt@us.af.mil

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