The hunt for efficient, incomplete designs for stepped wedge trials with continuous recruitment and continuous outcome measures.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We consider the design of stepped wedge trials with continuous recruitment and continuous outcome measures. Suppose we recruit from a fixed number of clusters where eligible participants present continuously, and suppose we have fine control over when each cluster crosses to the intervention. Suppose also that we want to minimise the number of participants, leading us to consider "incomplete" designs (i.e. without full recruitment). How can we schedule recruitment and cross-over at different clusters to recruit efficiently while achieving good precision?

Methods

The large number of possible designs can make exhaustive searches impractical. Instead we consider an algorithm using iterative improvements to hunt for an efficient design. At each iteration (starting fro

SUBMITTER: Hooper R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7672921 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature