The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Estimand Versus Differences in Medians or Means.

ABSTRACT: There is a renewed interest in defining the target of estimation when designing randomized trials. Motivated by design work in trials of HIV-1 curative interventions, we compare the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney (WMW) estimand to a difference in medians or means in a two-arm study. First, we define each estimand along with an appropriate estimator. Then, we highlight relevant asymptotic relative efficiency (ARE) results for the estimators under normal distributions (ARE: WMW/mean = 3/π$$ 3/\pi $$ , median/mean = 2/π$$ 2/\pi $$ , median/WMW = 2/3$$ 2/3 $$ ), as well as normal mixtures. Measurement of outcomes related to HIV-1 cure involve laboratory assays with lower limits of quantification giving rise to left-censored data. In our simulation study, we compare the estimators in the presence of lef

SUBMITTER: Harrison LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12379204 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature