Estimation of the coefficient of variation from laboratory analysis of split specimens for quality control in clinical trials

John E. Connett, Wondra Wong Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

An explicit statistical model is proposed for the coefficient of variation for laboratory analyses of constituents of blood, serum, saliva, or other specimens. A method for computing the maximum likelihood estimate of the key parameter is described, and compared with two simpler noniterative estimates. Validity of the model is explored by analysis of data from the central laboratory of a large cooperative clinical trial. Simulation studies are employed to compare the accuracy of the three estimators of the coefficient of variation. For most laboratory measurements for which the model is valid, one of the two noniterative estimates is nearly as accurate and unbiased as the maximum likelihood estimate.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)24-36
Number of pages13
JournalControlled clinical trials
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1990

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the reviewers of this article and the editor for suggesting substantial improvements. This research was supported in part by contract number NO1-HR-45002, from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Keywords

  • Coefficient of variation
  • bias
  • laboratory measurements
  • maximum likelihood
  • mean squared error

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