Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32693832›Full record

ArticleTrials2020

Overrunning in clinical trials: some thoughts from a methodological review.

Ileana Baldi, Danila Azzolina, Nicola Soriani, Beatrice Barbetta, Paola Vaghi, Giampaolo Giacovelli, Paola Berchialla, Dario Gregori

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Trials, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Ileana BaldiUnit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Via Loredan 18, 35121, Padova, Italy.
Danila AzzolinaUnit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Via Loredan 18, 35121, Padova, Italy.
Nicola SorianiUnit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Via Loredan 18, 35121, Padova, Italy.
Beatrice BarbettaDepartment of Biostatistics, Rottapharm Biotech, 20900, Monza, Italy.
Paola VaghiDepartment of Biostatistics, Rottapharm Biotech, 20900, Monza, Italy.
Giampaolo GiacovelliDepartment of Biostatistics, Rottapharm Biotech, 20900, Monza, Italy.
Paola BerchiallaDepartment of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Torino, 10100, Turin, Italy.
Dario GregoriUnit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Via Loredan 18, 35121, Padova, Italy. dario.gregori@unipd.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7906-0580

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn sequential and adaptive trials, the delay that happens after the trial is stopped, by a predetermined stopping criterion, takes the name of overrunning. Overrunning consists of extra data, collected by investigators while awaiting results of the interim analysis (IA). The inclusion of such extra data in the analyses is scientifically appropriate and follows regulatory advice. Nevertheless, its effect from a broader perspective is unclear.

methodsThis article aims at clarifying the overall impact of including such overrunning data, providing first a revision, and then a comparison of the several approaches proposed in the literature for treating such data. A simulation study is performed based on two real-life examples.

resultsThe paper shows that overrunning inclusion could seriously change the decision of an early conclusion of the study. It also shows that some of the methods proposed in the literature to include overrunning data are more conservative than others.

conclusionThe choice of a more or a less conservative method could be considered more appropriate depending on the endpoint type or the design type.

Indexed as

Clinical Trials as TopicResearch DesignAdaptive Clinical Trials as TopicComputer SimulationHumansCombining p valuesDeletion methodOverrunningRepeated confidence interval

Identifiers

PMID32693832
PMCPMC7374901

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.