For example, the methodology and results contained in this study are informing an on-going estimation of occupational cancer for the Global Burden of Disease programme undertaken by the World Health Organisation.
The recruitment, attrition and questionnaire completion rates, together with the SD of the main intervention outcomes will inform the estimation of the sample size for a future phase III trial.
These perturbations in treatment regimen, both in terms of dose level and continuity provided robust information about the system that was critical to inform parameter estimation.
The data will provide quick and direct estimates of policy impacts on consumption and also inform the estimation of longer-term health benefits and cost saving by providing evidence to incorporate into existing policy appraisal models [ 63].
The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using a simple email recruitment strategy and online questionnaire to produce an estimated effect size based upon expert opinion to inform sample size estimation for a randomised controlled trial.
Specifically, a multiple diameter single fiber reflectance (MDSFR) approach utilizes the SFR intensity vs. fiber diameter profiles to inform independent estimation of the effects of μ′ s and γ on the reflectance signal.
Rather than arbitrarily choosing single studies to inform parameter estimation, we used decision rules to pool relevant data: when the data were sufficiently homogeneous we pooled results using the random effects method of Der Simonian and Laird.
This feasibility study has provided data that will inform sample size estimation for a definitive trial and show how the NLNY intervention performs in comparison to interventions used in previous trials: for example, in NLNY, 21% of participants lost ≥5% of their body weight at 12 months of follow-up; the equivalent value in EDIPS was 38%.
However, in a setting where the heterogeneity variance is likely to be close to 0 (e.g., very similar trials designs and drug responses do not differ much across populations) and where only a few small trials are available to inform the variance estimation, this prior may easily upward bias the heterogeneity variance estimate, and thus, create artificially wide credible intervals.
The multipoint LOD score uses information from several markers at once to inform the likelihood estimation that linkage between the trait and the marker is more likely than independent segregation of both.
