The batched stepped wedge design: A design robust to delays in cluster recruitment.

ABSTRACT: Stepped wedge designs are an increasingly popular variant of longitudinal cluster randomized trial designs, and roll out interventions across clusters in a randomized, but step-wise fashion. In the standard stepped wedge design, assumptions regarding the effect of time on outcomes may require that all clusters start and end trial participation at the same time. This would require ethics approvals and data collection procedures to be in place in all clusters before a stepped wedge trial can start in any cluster. Hence, although stepped wedge designs are useful for testing the impacts of many cluster-based interventions on outcomes, there can be lengthy delays before a trial can commence. In this article, we introduce "batched" stepped wedge designs. Batched stepped wedge designs allow clust

SUBMITTER: Kasza J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9541502 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature