Sample size considerations for stepped wedge designs with subclusters.

ABSTRACT: The stepped wedge cluster randomized trial (SW-CRT) is an increasingly popular design for evaluating health service delivery or policy interventions. An essential consideration of this design is the need to account for both within-period and between-period correlations in sample size calculations. Especially when embedded in health care delivery systems, many SW-CRTs may have subclusters nested in clusters, within which outcomes are collected longitudinally. However, existing sample size methods that account for between-period correlations have not allowed for multiple levels of clustering. We present computationally efficient sample size procedures that properly differentiate within-period and between-period intracluster correlation coefficients in SW-CRTs in the presence of subclusters.

SUBMITTER: Davis-Plourde K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9054939 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature