Trend tests for dichotomous endpoints with application to carcinogenicity studies

Abstract

A trend test for dichotomous endpoints analogous to the nonparametric Jonckheere test is developed. The power of this and all other single trend tests for dichotomous endpoints strongly depends on the shape of the dose response curve. Combined tests which have a stable power over a wide range of the ordered alternative are suggested. One can combine several contrast tests to a so-called adjustive test which is more powerful than a Cochran-Armitage test with equally-spaced scores. The latter was recommended by Armitage (1) in case there is no a priori knowledge of the type of the trend. © 1997, Drug Information Association. All rights reserved.