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Sample Size Calculation for Rank Tests Comparing K Survival Distributions

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Abstract

Rank tests, such as logrank or Wilcoxon rank sum tests, have been popularly used to compare survival distributions of two or more groups in the presence of right censoring. However, there has been little research on sample size calculation methods for rank tests to compare more than two groups. An existing method is based on a crude approximation, which tends to underestimate sample size, i.e., the calculated sample size has lower power than projected. In this paper we propose an asymptotically correct method and an approximate method for sample size calculation. The proposed methods are compared to other methods through simulation studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, ACOSOG, Duke University, DUMC Box 3627, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Sin-Ho Jung

  2. Division of Biostatistics, Regenstrief Health Center, Indiana University Department of Medicine, 1001 W. 10th Street, 4th Floor, Indianapolis, IN, 46202-2859, USA

    Siu Hui

Authors
  1. Sin-Ho Jung
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  2. Siu Hui
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Jung, SH., Hui, S. Sample Size Calculation for Rank Tests Comparing K Survival Distributions. Lifetime Data Anal 8, 361–373 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020518905233

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