Two-stage k-sample designs for the ordered alternative problem

In preclinical studies and clinical dose-ranging trials, the Jonckheere-Terpstra test is widely used in the assessment of dose-response relationships. Hewett and Spurrier (1979) presented a two-stage analog of the test in the context of large sample sizes. In this paper, we propose an exact test based on Simon's minimax and optimal design criteria originally used in one-arm phase II designs based on binary endpoints. The convergence rate of the joint distribution of the first and second stage test statistics to the limiting distribution is studied, and design parameters are provided for a variety of assumed alternatives. The behavior of the test is also examined in the presence of ties, and the proposed designs are illustrated through application in the planning of a hypercholesterolemia clinical trial. The minimax and optimal two-stage procedures are shown to be preferable as compared with the one-stage procedure because of the associated reduction in expected sample size for given error constraints.