The design of a panel study under an alternating Poisson process assumption.

We discuss the design of a panel study for the estimation of the average durations in the two states of an alternating Poisson process. Two types of designs are examined. The first fixes the number of follow-up waves but permits the total length of follow-up to vary, and the second varies the number of follow-up waves with fixed length. Simple expressions for nearly optimal designs are presented, and we compare these with designs allowing for continuous observation. Both equilibrium and nonequilibrium cases are examined. An example is given using morbidity data to illustrate how these results can be applied.