A note on one-sided tests with multiple endpoints

Abstract

Testing problems with multivariate one-sided alternative hypotheses are common in clinical trials with multiple endpoints. In the case of comparing two treatments, treatment 1 is often preferred if it is superior for at least one of the endpoints and not biologically inferior for the remaining endpoints. Bloch et al. (2001, Biometrics57, 1039-1047) propose an intersection-union test (IUT) for this testing problem, but their test does not utilize the appropriate multivariate one-sided test. In this note we modify their test by an alternative IUT that does utilize the appropriate one-sided test. Empirical and graphical evidence show that the proposed test is more appropriate for this testing problem.