This book addresses the most important aspects of how to plan and evaluate clinical trials with a composite primary endpoint to guarantee a clinically meaningful and valid interpretation of the results. Composite endpoints are often used as primary efficacy variables for clinical trials, particularly in the fields of oncology and cardiology. These endpoints combine several variables of interest within a single composite measure, and as a result, all variables that are of major clinical relevance can be considered in the primary analysis without the need to adjust for multiplicity. Moreover, composite endpoints are intended to increase the size of the expected effects thus making clinical trials more powerful. The book offers practical advice for statisticians and medical experts involved in the planning and analysis of clinical trials. For readers who are mainly interested in the application of the methods, all the approaches are illustrated with real-world clinical trial examples, and the software codes required for fast and easy implementation are provided. The book also discusses all the methods in the context of relevant guidelines related to the topic. To benefit most from the book, readers should be familiar with the principles of clinical trials and basic statistical methods.

In diesem Buch werden 12 verschiedene Lehrbeispiele und Software-Anwendungen fur die Gestaltung von universitaren Unterrichtseinheiten zur Illustration biometrischer Themen oder Experimente vorgestellt. Alle beschriebenen Materialien sind fur den Nutzer online frei verfugbar. Durch seinen praktischen Ansatz dient das Buch der konkreten Unterrichtsplanung und Durchfuhrung. Alle Beitrage wurden fur den Preis des besten universitaren Lehrmaterials im Fach Biometrie 2013 eingereicht, welcher von der Arbeitsgruppe "Lehre und Didaktik der Biometrie" der Deutschen Region der Internationalen Biometrischen Gesellschaft (IBS-DR) ausgeschrieben wurde. Entstanden ist ein einzigartiger Uberblick uber die Moglichkeiten einer didaktisch hochwertigen Lehre in der Biostatistik. "