Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33865475›Full record

ReviewThe Lancet. Global health2021

The role and challenges of cluster randomised trials for global health.

Louis Dron, Monica Taljaard, Yin Bun Cheung, Rebecca Grais, Nathan Ford, Kristian Thorlund, Fyezah Jahan, Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu, Denis Xavier, Zulfiqar A Bhutta and 2 more

Erratum issuedOpen access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in The Lancet. Global health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 47 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
47citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
18.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

47 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.

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  14. Relevance and challenges of exposome studies for environmental health research.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 9 institutions in 8 countries.

Louis DronDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Monica TaljaardClinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Yin Bun CheungCentre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Center for Child Health Research, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Rebecca GraisEpicentre, Paris, France.
Nathan FordCentre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Kristian ThorlundDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Fyezah JahanDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Etheldreda Nakimuli-MpunguDepartment of Psychiatry, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Denis XavierDepartment of Pharmacology and Division of Clinical Research, St John's Medical College, Bangalore, India.
Zulfiqar A BhuttaCentre for Global Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute of Global Health and Development, and Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Jay J H ParkDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Edward J MillsDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; School of Public Health, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda; Cytel, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Electronic address: millsej@mcmaster.ca.
McMaster University · CAAga Khan University · PKDuke-NUS Medical School · SGHospital for Sick Children · CAMakerere University · UGOttawa Hospital · CASt.John's Medical College Hospital · INUniversity of British Columbia · CAUniversity of Cape Town · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Evaluating whether an intervention works when trialled in groups of individuals can pose complex challenges for clinical research. Cluster randomised controlled trials involve the random allocation of groups or clusters of individuals to receive an intervention, and they are commonly used in global health research. In this paper, we describe the potential reasons for the increasing popularity of cluster trials in low-income and middle-income countries. We also draw on key areas of global health research for an assessment of common trial planning practices, and we address their methodological shortcomings and pitfalls. Lastly, we discuss alternative approaches for population-level intervention trials that could be useful for research undertaken in low-income and middle-income countries for situations in which the use of cluster randomisation might not be appropriate.

Indexed as

Global HealthResearch DesignCluster AnalysisHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Identifiers

PMID33865475
OpenAlexW3152765990

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.