Replicate designs: Pros & Cons [Design Issues]
your terminology is unfortunate. Generally x-way (x: 2, 3, 4…) refers to the number of treatments (or formulations). The common 2×2×2 (for simplicity aka 2×2, TR|RT, AB|BA) refers to two treatments, two sequences, two periods. If we have more than one treatment we talk about a ”higher order crossover”. Examples: 3×3 and 4×4 Latin Squares or a 3×6×3 Williams’s design.
In none of these designs any of the treatments is replicated.
❝ 1. Is there any thumb rule (apart from %CV more than 30), when to use three way against four way cross over design?
IMHO, only if the sample volume is limited, a three-period replicate is the better choice. In a four-period replicate the chance of dropouts is higher than in three-period replicates. However, the loss of power is overrated by many.
❝ 2. […] four way design reduces the sample size compared to three way designs,
Correct. But to get the same power the number of treatments (and hence, the number of biosamples mainly driving the study costs) is similar. Sample sizes (n) and number of treatments (t) for GMR 0.9, target power 80%:
FDA’s RSABE
2×2×4 2×2×3 2×3×3
CV% n t n t n t
30 32 128 46 138 45 135
40 24 96 38 114 33 99
50 22 88 34 102 30 90
60 24 96 36 108 33 99
EMA’s ABEL
2×2×4 2×2×3 2×3×3
CV% n t n t n t
30 34 136 50 150 54 162
40 30 120 46 138 42 126
50 28 112 42 126 39 117
60 32 128 48 144 48 144
❝ […] is there any additional advantage which four way design give
You’ll get CVwT additionally to CVwR (which is required for reference-scaling). More about that at the end of the post. Nice to know and required for the FDA’s RSABE for NTIDs.
❝ (in terms of overall outcome of the study)?
If you mean the chance of passing BE, no.
❝ 3. Even though variability is less than 30%, we perform three or four ways cross over study, would it enhances chance of passing the study (i.e forced BE) compared to simple two way design?
Generally not. The sample size is not directly accessible, only power. The sample sample size is iteratively altered until at least the target power is reached. Example:
library(PowerTOST)
# sample size and expected power for ABE
design <- c("2x2x2", "2x2x4", "2x2x3", "2x3x3")
CV <- seq(0.15, 0.3, 0.05)
theta0 <- 0.95 # expected T/R-ratio
target <- 0.90 # target power
res <- matrix(nrow=length(CV), ncol=2*length(design)+1,
byrow=FALSE, dimnames=NULL)
colnames(res) <- c("CV%", paste0(rep(design, each=2), c(": n", ": pwr")))
for (j in seq_along(CV)) {
res[j, 1] <- 100*CV[j]
for (k in seq_along(design)) {
x <- sampleN.TOST(CV=CV[j], theta0=theta0, targetpower=target,
design=design[k], details=FALSE, print=FALSE)
res[j, k*2] <- x[["Sample size"]]
res[j, k*2+1] <- signif(100*x[["Achieved power"]], 4)
}
}
print(as.data.frame(res), row.names=FALSE)
CV% 2x2x2: n 2x2x2: pwr 2x2x4: n 2x2x4: pwr 2x2x3: n 2x2x3: pwr 2x3x3: n 2x3x3: pwr
15 16 92.60 8 93.29 12 93.36 12 93.36
20 26 91.76 12 90.15 18 90.18 18 90.18
25 38 90.89 20 92.43 28 90.76 30 92.44
30 52 90.20 26 90.43 40 91.09 39 90.44
The number of periods in replicate designs is not so important.
You have to decide whether you use one of the full replicates (two sequences; four periods: 2×2×4 or RTRT|TRTR, three periods: 2×2×3 or RTR|TRT) or the partial replicate (three sequences; three periods: 2×3×3 or RRT|RTR|TRR). The later is a lousy design (since T is not repeated and the FDA’s model is over-specified). In the worst case the study is done and the optimizer fails to converge (independent from the software). Then you are in bad situation. Lots of money spent, no result at all… Please avoid it; don’t follow guidelines blindly.
If you opt for one of the full replicates (which I hope) you should perform the pilot study in a full replicate design as well. In many cases the variability of T is lower than the one of R – which will lead to a lower sample size for the pivotal study. If the pilot study was performed in the partial replicate you have to assume that CVwT = CWwR. Examples for GMR 0.90, target power 80%, 4-period full replicate:
- CVwT = CVwR = 50%
- FDA’s RSABE
library(PowerTOST)
sampleN.RSABE(CV=0.50, theta0=0.9, targetpower=0.8, design="2x2x4",
details=FALSE, print=FALSE)[["Sample size"]]
# [1] 22 - EMA’s ABEL
sampleN.scABEL(CV=0.50, theta0=0.9, targetpower=0.8, design="2x2x4",
details=FALSE, print=FALSE)[["Sample size"]]
# [1] 28
- FDA’s RSABE
sampleN.RSABE(CV=c(0.35, 0.50), theta0=0.9, targetpower=0.8, design="2x2x4",
details=FALSE, print=FALSE)[["Sample size"]]
# [1] 18
- EMA’s ABEL
sampleN.scABEL(CV=c(0.35, 0.50), theta0=0.9, targetpower=0.8, design="2x2x4",
details=FALSE, print=FALSE)[["Sample size"]]
# [1] 22
library(PowerTOST)
CVwT <- 0.35 # CV of T
CVwR <- 0.50 # CV of R
PE <- 0.9
# pooled CV used for the calculation of the CI
CVw <- mse2CV(mean(c(CV2mse(CVwT), CV2mse(CVwR))))
# scaled BE limits
AR <- 100*scABEL(CV=CVwR, regulator="EMA")
# 90% CI assuming CVwT = CVwR
n1 <- sampleN.scABEL(CV=CVwR, theta0=PE, targetpower=0.8, design="2x2x4",
details=FALSE, print=FALSE)[["Sample size"]]
CI1 <- round(100*CI.BE(pe=PE, CV=CVw, n=n1, design="2x2x4"), 2)
if (CI1[["lower"]] >= AR[["lower"]] & CI1[["upper"]] <= AR[["upper"]] &
PE >= 0.8 & PE <= 1.25) {
concl1 <- paste("(passes BE with", n1, "subjects)")
} else {
concl1 <- paste("(fails BE with", n1, "subjects)")
}
# 90% CI with CVwT < CVwR
n2 <- sampleN.scABEL(CV=c(CVwT, CVwR), theta0=PE, targetpower=0.8, design="2x2x4",
details=FALSE, print=FALSE)[["Sample size"]]
CI2 <- round(100*CI.BE(pe=PE, CV=CVw, n=n2, design="2x2x4"), 2)
if (CI2[["lower"]] >= AR[["lower"]] & CI2[["upper"]] <= AR[["upper"]] &
PE >= 0.8 & PE <= 1.25) {
concl2 <- paste("(passes BE with", n2, "subjects)")
} else {
concl2 <- paste("(fails BE with", n2, "subjects)")
}
cat(sprintf("\nCVwT = %.2f%%, CVwR = %.2f%%, CVw = %.2f%%",
100*CVwT, 100*CVwR, 100*CVw),
"\nAR :", sprintf("%.2f - %.2f%%", AR[["lower"]], AR[["upper"]]),
"\n90% CI:", sprintf("%.2f - %.2f%%", CI1[["lower"]], CI1[["upper"]]),
concl1,
"\n90% CI:", sprintf("%.2f - %.2f%%", CI2[["lower"]], CI2[["upper"]]),
concl2, "\n")
CVwT = 35.00%, CVwR = 50.00%, CVw = 42.96%
AR : 69.84 - 143.19%
90% CI: 79.07 - 102.44% (passes BE with 28 subjects)
90% CI: 77.74 - 104.20% (passes BE with 22 subjects)
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Helmut Schütz
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Science Quotes
Complete thread:
- Replicate designs VSL 2017-01-31 06:47 [Design Issues]
- Replicate designs: Pros & ConsHelmut 2017-01-31 12:42
- Replicate designs: Pros & Cons VSL 2017-01-31 14:03
- Replicate designs: Pros & Cons Balaji 2017-03-04 11:19
- Partial replicate design & ABE for the FDA Helmut 2017-03-06 11:40
- Partial replicate design & ABE for the FDA nobody 2017-03-06 13:47
- Partial replicate design & ABE for the FDA Helmut 2017-03-06 14:00
- Partial replicate design & ABE for the FDA nobody 2017-03-06 14:18
- Partial replicate design & ABE for the FDA Helmut 2017-03-06 17:49
- Partial replicate design & ABE for the FDA nobody 2017-03-06 14:18
- Partial replicate design & ABE for the FDA Helmut 2017-03-06 14:00
- Partial replicate design & ABE for the FDA nobody 2017-03-06 13:47
- Partial replicate design & ABE for the FDA Helmut 2017-03-06 11:40
- Replicate designs: Pros & ConsHelmut 2017-01-31 12:42