Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36825509›Full record

Trial reportClinical trials (London, England)2023

Optimal allocation to treatment sequences in individually randomized stepped-wedge designs with attrition.

Mirjam Moerbeek

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Clinical trials (London, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 16% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Sample Size Calculation for an Individual Stepped-Wedge Randomized Trial.Biometrical journal. Biometrische Zeitschrift · 2024
    Article
  3. 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

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Mirjam MoerbeekDepartment of Methodology and Statistics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-5537-1237
Utrecht University · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

aimsThe stepped-wedge design has been extensively studied in the setting of the cluster randomized trial, but less so for the individually randomized trial. This article derives the optimal allocation of individuals to treatment sequences. The focus is on designs where all individuals start in the control condition and at the beginning of each time period some of them cross over to the intervention, so that at the end of the trial all of them receive the intervention.

methodsThe statistical model that takes into account the nesting of repeated measurements within subjects is presented. It is also shown how possible attrition is taken into account. The effect of the intervention is assumed to be sustained so that it does not change after the treatment switch. An exponential decay correlation structure is assumed, implying that the correlation between any two time point decreases with the time lag. Matrix algebra is used to derive the relation between the allocation of units to treatment sequences and the variance of the treatment effect estimator. The optimal allocation is the one that results in smallest variance.

resultsResults are presented for three to six treatment sequences. It is shown that the optimal allocation highly depends on the correlation parameter

conclusionThis article provides the methodology for designing individually randomized stepped-wedge designs, taking into account the possibility of attrition. As such it helps researchers to plan their trial in an efficient way. To use the methodology, prior estimates of the degree of attrition and intraclass correlation coefficient are needed. It is advocated that researchers clearly report the estimates of these quantities to help facilitate planning future trials.

Indexed as

Models, StatisticalResearch DesignCluster AnalysisHumansSample SizeTime Factorsconstrained optimizationoptimal allocationStaggered interventionstepped-wedge trial

Identifiers

PMID36825509
PMCPMC10262341
OpenAlexW4321748350

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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.