The relative efficiency of time‐to‐progression and continuous measures of cognition in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease

Abstract Introduction Clinical trials on preclinical Alzheimer's disease are challenging because of the slow rate of disease progression. We use a simulation study to demonstrate that models of repeated cognitive assessments detect treatment effects more efficiently than models of time to progr...

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Main Authors: Dan Li, Samuel Iddi, Paul S. Aisen, Wesley K. Thompson, Michael C. Donohue, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-01-01
Series:Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2019.04.004
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author Dan Li
Samuel Iddi
Paul S. Aisen
Wesley K. Thompson
Michael C. Donohue
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
author_facet Dan Li
Samuel Iddi
Paul S. Aisen
Wesley K. Thompson
Michael C. Donohue
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
author_sort Dan Li
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Introduction Clinical trials on preclinical Alzheimer's disease are challenging because of the slow rate of disease progression. We use a simulation study to demonstrate that models of repeated cognitive assessments detect treatment effects more efficiently than models of time to progression. Methods Multivariate continuous data are simulated from a Bayesian joint mixed‐effects model fit to data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Simulated progression events are algorithmically derived from the continuous assessments using a random forest model fit to the same data. Results We find that power is approximately doubled with models of repeated continuous outcomes compared with the time‐to‐progression analysis. The simulations also demonstrate that a plausible informative missing data pattern can induce a bias that inflates treatment effects, yet 5% type I error is maintained. Discussion Given the relative inefficiency of time to progression, it should be avoided as a primary analysis approach in clinical trials of preclinical Alzheimer's disease.
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series Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions
spelling doaj-art-91c05e03b761481caeff8de05b3e95d52025-08-20T03:21:59ZengWileyAlzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions2352-87372019-01-015130831810.1016/j.trci.2019.04.004The relative efficiency of time‐to‐progression and continuous measures of cognition in presymptomatic Alzheimer's diseaseDan Li0Samuel Iddi1Paul S. Aisen2Wesley K. Thompson3Michael C. Donohue4Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative5Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern CaliforniaSan DiegoCAUSAAlzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern CaliforniaSan DiegoCAUSAAlzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern CaliforniaSan DiegoCAUSADepartment of PsychiatryUniversity of CaliforniaSan DiegoCAUSAAlzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern CaliforniaSan DiegoCAUSAAlzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern CaliforniaSan DiegoCAUSAAbstract Introduction Clinical trials on preclinical Alzheimer's disease are challenging because of the slow rate of disease progression. We use a simulation study to demonstrate that models of repeated cognitive assessments detect treatment effects more efficiently than models of time to progression. Methods Multivariate continuous data are simulated from a Bayesian joint mixed‐effects model fit to data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Simulated progression events are algorithmically derived from the continuous assessments using a random forest model fit to the same data. Results We find that power is approximately doubled with models of repeated continuous outcomes compared with the time‐to‐progression analysis. The simulations also demonstrate that a plausible informative missing data pattern can induce a bias that inflates treatment effects, yet 5% type I error is maintained. Discussion Given the relative inefficiency of time to progression, it should be avoided as a primary analysis approach in clinical trials of preclinical Alzheimer's disease.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2019.04.004Clinical trial simulationsAlzheimer's diseaseCox proportional hazards modelLongitudinal dataMixed model of repeated measures (MMRM)Statistical power
spellingShingle Dan Li
Samuel Iddi
Paul S. Aisen
Wesley K. Thompson
Michael C. Donohue
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
The relative efficiency of time‐to‐progression and continuous measures of cognition in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions
Clinical trial simulations
Alzheimer's disease
Cox proportional hazards model
Longitudinal data
Mixed model of repeated measures (MMRM)
Statistical power
title The relative efficiency of time‐to‐progression and continuous measures of cognition in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease
title_full The relative efficiency of time‐to‐progression and continuous measures of cognition in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease
title_fullStr The relative efficiency of time‐to‐progression and continuous measures of cognition in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease
title_full_unstemmed The relative efficiency of time‐to‐progression and continuous measures of cognition in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease
title_short The relative efficiency of time‐to‐progression and continuous measures of cognition in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease
title_sort relative efficiency of time to progression and continuous measures of cognition in presymptomatic alzheimer s disease
topic Clinical trial simulations
Alzheimer's disease
Cox proportional hazards model
Longitudinal data
Mixed model of repeated measures (MMRM)
Statistical power
url https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2019.04.004
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