ArticlePLoS biology2017
Increasing efficiency of preclinical research by group sequential designs.
Article in PLoS biology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical relevance assessment of animal preclinical research (RAA) tool: development and explanation.PeerJ · 2021Trial
- Data Analysis Planning and Reporting for Confirmatory Multi-Lab Preclinical Trials: A Tutorial.Biometrical journal. Biometrische Zeitschrift · 2026Review
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- Half the price, twice the gain: How to simultaneously decrease animal numbers and increase precision with good experimental design.Laboratory animals · 2024Article
- Reducing the false discovery rate of preclinical animal research with Bayesian statistical decision criteria.Statistical methods in medical research · 2023Article
- Physical therapy exerts sub-additive and suppressive effects on intracerebral neural stem cell implantation in a rat model of stroke.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2022Article
- Statistical practice and transparent reporting in the neurosciences: Preclinical motor behavioral experiments.PloS one · 2022Article
- Sample size, power and effect size revisited: simplified and practical approaches in pre-clinical, clinical and laboratory studies.Biochemia medica · 2021Article
- Experimental replications in animal trials.Laboratory animals · 2021Article
- Effect size, sample size and power of forced swim test assays in mice: Guidelines for investigators to optimize reproducibility.PloS one · 2021Article
- Low Doses of Psilocybin and Ketamine Enhance Motivation and Attention in Poor Performing Rats: Evidence for an Antidepressant Property.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Article
- Characterization of Amphetamine, Methylphenidate, Nicotine, and Atomoxetine on Measures of Attention, Impulsive Action, and Motivation in the Rat: Implications for Translational Research.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2020Article
- Perioperative Neurocognitive Disorder: State of the Preclinical Science.Anesthesiology · 2020Review
- Wilms Tumor 1b Expression Defines a Pro-regenerative Macrophage Subtype and Is Required for Organ Regeneration in the Zebrafish.Cell reports · 2019Article
- Poster Viewing Sessions PB01-B01 to PB03-V09.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2019Article
- The problem with unadjusted multiple and sequential statistical testing.Nature communications · 2019Article
- Exact replication: Foundation of science or game of chance?PLoS biology · 2019Article
- Stage 1 Registered Report: Effect of deficient phagocytosis on neuronal survival and neurological outcome after temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAo).F1000Research · 2017Article
- Biodistribution and Immunogenicity of Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells in a Rat Model of Intraarticular Chondrocyte Xenotransplantation.Frontiers in immunology · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite the potential benefits of sequential designs, studies evaluating treatments or experimental manipulations in preclinical experimental biomedicine almost exclusively use classical block designs. Our aim with this article is to bring the existing methodology of group sequential designs to the attention of researchers in the preclinical field and to clearly illustrate its potential utility. Group sequential designs can offer higher efficiency than traditional methods and are increasingly used in clinical trials. Using simulation of data, we demonstrate that group sequential designs have the potential to improve the efficiency of experimental studies, even when sample sizes are very small, as is currently prevalent in preclinical experimental biomedicine. When simulating data with a large effect size of d = 1 and a sample size of n = 18 per group, sequential frequentist analysis consumes in the long run only around 80% of the planned number of experimental units. In larger trials (n = 36 per group), additional stopping rules for futility lead to the saving of resources of up to 30% compared to block designs. We argue that these savings should be invested to increase sample sizes and hence power, since the currently underpowered experiments in preclinical biomedicine are a major threat to the value and predictiveness in this research domain.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.