Cluster Randomised Trials

Cluster Randomised Trials
Author: Richard J. Hayes
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2017-07-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1315353237

Cluster Randomised Trials, Second Edition discusses the design, conduct, and analysis of trials that randomise groups of individuals to different treatments. It explores the advantages of cluster randomisation, with special attention given to evaluating the effects of interventions against infectious diseases. Avoiding unnecessary mathematical detail, the book covers basic concepts underlying the use of cluster randomisation, such as direct, indirect, and total effects. In the time since the publication of the first edition, the use of cluster randomised trials (CRTs) has increased substantially, which is reflected in the updates to this edition. There are greatly expanded sections on randomisation, sample size estimation, and alternative designs, including new material on stepped wedge designs. There is a new section on handling ordinal outcome data, and an appendix with descriptions and/or generating code of the example data sets. Although the book mainly focuses on medical and public health applications, it shows that the rigorous evidence of intervention effects provided by CRTs has the potential to inform public policy in a wide range of other areas. The book encourages readers to apply the methods to their own trials, reproduce the analyses presented, and explore alternative approaches.

A Practical Guide to Cluster Randomised Trials in Health Services Research

A Practical Guide to Cluster Randomised Trials in Health Services Research
Author: Sandra Eldridge
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2012-02-20
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0470510471

Cluster randomised trials are trials in which groups (or clusters) of individuals are randomly allocated to different forms of treatment. In health care, these trials often compare different ways of managing a disease or promoting healthy living, in contrast to conventional randomised trials which randomise individuals to different treatments, classically comparing new drugs with a placebo. They are increasingly common in health services research. This book addresses the statistical, practical, and ethical issues arising from allocating groups of individuals, or clusters, to different interventions. Key features: Guides readers through the stages of conducting a trial, from recruitment to reporting. Presents a wide range of examples with particular emphasis on trials in health services research and primary care, with both principles and techniques explained. Topics are specifically presented in the order in which investigators think about issues when they are designing a trial. Combines information on the latest developments in the field together with a practical guide to the design and implementation of cluster randomised trials. Explains principles and techniques through numerous examples including many from the authors own experience. Includes a wide range of references for those who wish to read further. This book is intended as a practical guide, written for researchers from the health professions including doctors, psychologists, and allied health professionals, as well as statisticians involved in the design, execution, analysis and reporting of cluster randomised trials. Those with a more general interest will find the plentiful examples illuminating.

How to Design, Analyse and Report Cluster Randomised Trials in Medicine and Health Related Research

How to Design, Analyse and Report Cluster Randomised Trials in Medicine and Health Related Research
Author: Michael J. Campbell
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2014-05-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1119992028

A complete guide to understanding cluster randomised trials Written by two researchers with extensive experience in the field, this book presents a complete guide to the design, analysis and reporting of cluster randomised trials. It spans a wide range of applications: trials in developing countries, trials in primary care, trials in the health services. A key feature is the use of R code and code from other popular packages to plan and analyse cluster trials, using data from actual trials. The book contains clear technical descriptions of the models used, and considers in detail the ethics involved in such trials and the problems in planning them. For readers and students who do not intend to run a trial but wish to be a critical reader of the literature, there are sections on the CONSORT statement, and exercises in reading published trials. Written in a clear, accessible style Features real examples taken from the authors’ extensive practitioner experience of designing and analysing clinical trials Demonstrates the use of R, Stata and SPSS for statistical analysis Includes computer code so the reader can replicate all the analyses Discusses neglected areas such as ethics and practical issues in running cluster randomised trials How to Design, Analyse and Report Cluster Randomised Trials in Medicine and Health Related Research provides an excellent reference tool and can be read with profit by statisticians, health services researchers, systematic reviewers and critical readers of cluster randomised trials.

Design and Analysis of Cluster Randomization Trials in Health Research

Design and Analysis of Cluster Randomization Trials in Health Research
Author: Allan Donner
Publisher: Wiley
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010-05-17
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780470711002

A cluster randomization trial is one in which intact social units, or clusters of individuals, are randomized to different intervention groups. Trials randomizing clusters have become particularly widespread in the evaluation of non-therapeutic interventions, including lifestyle modification, educational programmes and innovations in the provision of health care. The increasing popularity of this design among health researchers over the past two decades has led to an extensive body of methodology on the subject. This is the first book to present a systematic and united treatment of this topic; it contains distinctive chapters on the history of cluster randomized trials, ethical issues and reporting guidelines.

Design and Analysis of Group-randomized Trials

Design and Analysis of Group-randomized Trials
Author: David M. Murray
Publisher: Monographs in Epidemiology and
Total Pages: 481
Release: 1998
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0195120361

Community or group-randomized trials, which are usually done to evaluate the effect of health promotion effors. It reviews the underlying issues, describes the most widely used research design, and presents the many approaches to analysis that are now available.

Introduction to Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials

Introduction to Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials
Author: John N.S. Matthews
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2006-06-26
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1420011308

Evidence from randomized controlled clinical trials is widely accepted as the only sound basis for assessing the efficacy of new medical treatments. Statistical methods play a key role in all stages of these trials, including their justification, design, and analysis. This second edition of Introduction to Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials prov

Field Trials of Health Interventions

Field Trials of Health Interventions
Author: Peter G. Smith
Publisher:
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2015
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 0198732864

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Before new interventions are released into disease control programmes, it is essential that they are carefully evaluated in field trials'. These may be complex and expensive undertakings, requiring the follow-up of hundreds, or thousands, of individuals, often for long periods. Descriptions of the detailed procedures and methods used in the trials that have been conducted have rarely been published. A consequence of this, individuals planning such trials have few guidelines available and little access to knowledge accumulated previously, other than their own. In this manual, practical issues in trial design and conduct are discussed fully and in sufficient detail, that Field Trials of Health Interventions may be used as a toolbox' by field investigators. It has been compiled by an international group of over 30 authors with direct experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of field trials in low and middle income countries and is based on their accumulated knowledge and experience. Available as an open access book via Oxford Medicine Online, this new edition is a comprehensive revision, incorporating the new developments that have taken place in recent years with respect to trials, including seven new chapters on subjects ranging from trial governance, and preliminary studies to pilot testing.

Designing Randomised Trials in Health, Education and the Social Sciences

Designing Randomised Trials in Health, Education and the Social Sciences
Author: D. Torgerson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2008-03-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0230583997

The book focuses on the design of rigorous trials rather than their statistical underpinnings, with chapters on: pragmatic designs; placebo designs; preference approaches; unequal allocation; economics; analytical approaches; randomization methods. It also includes a detailed description of randomization procedures and different trial designs.

Selection Bias and Covariate Imbalances in Randomized Clinical Trials

Selection Bias and Covariate Imbalances in Randomized Clinical Trials
Author: Vance Berger
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2007-10-22
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0470863633

Selection bias can, and does, occur, even in randomized clinical trials. Steps need to be taken in order to ensure that this does not compromise the integrity of clinical trials; hence “Selection Bias and Covariate Imbalances in Randomized Clinical Trials” offers a comprehensive treatment of the subject and the methodology involved. This book: Provides an overview of the hierarchy of study designs, and justifies the position of randomised trials at the top of this hierarchy. Discusses the strengths and defects of randomisation, and provides real evidence to justify concern regarding its defects. Outlays the damaging consequences that selection bias causes when it does occur. Considers courses of action that can be taken to manage/ contain the problem. Presents methods that can be used to detect selection bias in randomised trials, and methods to correct for selection bias. Concludes by providing a comprehensive plan for managing baseline imbalances and selection bias in randomised trials, and proposing open problems for future research. Illustrated with case studies, this book introduces groundbreaking ideas and research that will be invaluable to researchers and practitioners who design and analyse clinical trials. It will also be of interest to graduate students within the field of biostatistics.

Methods and Applications of Sample Size Calculation and Recalculation in Clinical Trials

Methods and Applications of Sample Size Calculation and Recalculation in Clinical Trials
Author: Meinhard Kieser
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2020-11-19
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3030495280

This book provides an extensive overview of the principles and methods of sample size calculation and recalculation in clinical trials. Appropriate calculation of the required sample size is crucial for the success of clinical trials. At the same time, a sample size that is too small or too large is problematic due to ethical, scientific, and economic reasons. Therefore, state-of-the art methods are required when planning clinical trials. Part I describes a general framework for deriving sample size calculation procedures. This enables an understanding of the common principles underlying the numerous methods presented in the following chapters. Part II addresses the fixed sample size design, where the required sample size is determined in the planning stage and is not changed afterwards. It covers sample size calculation methods for superiority, non-inferiority, and equivalence trials, as well as comparisons between two and more than two groups. A wide range of further topics is discussed, including sample size calculation for multiple comparisons, safety assessment, and multi-regional trials. There is often some uncertainty about the assumptions to be made when calculating the sample size upfront. Part III presents methods that allow to modify the initially specified sample size based on new information that becomes available during the ongoing trial. Blinded sample size recalculation procedures for internal pilot study designs are considered, as well as methods for sample size reassessment in adaptive designs that use unblinded data from interim analyses. The application is illustrated using numerous clinical trial examples, and software code implementing the methods is provided. The book offers theoretical background and practical advice for biostatisticians and clinicians from the pharmaceutical industry and academia who are involved in clinical trials. Covering basic as well as more advanced and recently developed methods, it is suitable for beginners, experienced applied statisticians, and practitioners. To gain maximum benefit, readers should be familiar with introductory statistics. The content of this book has been successfully used for courses on the topic.