Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36639614›Full record

Trial reportBMC psychiatry2023

Only one cluster per condition is an invalid design for a cluster randomized trial and should be re-labeled a quasi-experimental study. Response to: "Effect of behavioral activation on time and frequency domain heart rate variability in older adults with subthreshold depression: a cluster randomized controlled trial in Thailand".

Yasaman Jamshidi-Naeini, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, Abu Bakkar Siddique, Colby J Vorland, David B Allison

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Yasaman Jamshidi-NaeiniDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health- Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, PH 111, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
Lilian Golzarri-ArroyoDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health- Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, PH 111, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
Abu Bakkar SiddiqueDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health- Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, PH 111, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
Colby J VorlandDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health- Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, PH 111, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
David B AllisonDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health- Bloomington, 1025 E 7th St, PH 111, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA. allison@iu.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-3566-9399

Funding

Sex hormones and arthritis in a long lived animal modelP30AG050886 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI DAVID B ALLISON · 2015 to 2026
$11.3M
Nathan Shock Centers Coordinating CenterU24AG056053 · NIA · AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR AGING RESEARCH · PI STEVEN N. AUSTAD, Stephanie Lederman · 2017 to 2026
$6.1M
The Mathematical Sciences in Obesity ResearchR25DK099080 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI DAVID B ALLISON, Andrew W Brown · 2013 to 2026
$1.2M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG050886NIA NIH HHS U24 AG056053NIDDK NIH HHS R25 DK099080
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ayudhaya et al. examined the effect of Behavioral Activation on daily step count and heart rate variability among older adults with depression in a study labeled a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT). However, only one cluster was assigned to either of the study conditions. Such a design would have zero degrees of freedom for inferential testing, because the variation due to cluster membership cannot be estimated apart from the variation due to treatment assignment. Thus, the intervention effect is completely confounded with the cluster effect. The study should be labeled a quasi-experimental study, not a cRCT. Accordingly, the numerical results should be interpreted as associations but not evidence for causal relationships.

Indexed as

Behavior TherapyDepressionAgedHeart RateHumansThailandCluster randomized trialDegrees of freedomInferential testingNesting

Identifiers

PMID36639614
PMCPMC9840303

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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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.