A practical guide to cluster randomised trials in health services research
By: Sandra Eldridge and Sally Kerry
Contributors: Kerry, Sally M.
Series: Statistics in practice; Statistics in practice
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Chichester, West Sussex
Language: eng
Number of pages: 278
ISBN-13: 9780470510476; 9781119966258; 9781119966241; 9781119966722
Subjects: Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Cluster Analysis; Health Services Research
Description: "There is relatively little literature on cluster randomized trials, with only two previous books on the subject, both now quite old, and neither were focused on the practical aspects of the trials. This book provides that much needed practical guide to the design, execution and analysis of cluster randomized trials in health services research. It also provides an overview of the topic's numerous recent developments since the 2000 publication of the last book in this area.The opening chapter defines and introduces cluster randomized trials, before going on to present an overview of the subject's history and recent developments. The following chapters focus on all the major issues presented in the order in which investigators think about issues when they are designing a trial. The chapters focus on: trial quality, reporting, how to design an intervention, how to ensure the validity of results, how to choose both the design and the analysis of the trial, sample size calculations, choosing an intra-cluster correlation coefficient, the uses of piloting, how to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis, and how these trials should be synthesized.The book also contains numerous tables, graphs and diagrams and a substantial number of recent trials"--Provided by publisher.

"This book aims to provide that much needed practical guide to the design, execution and analysis of cluster randomized trials in health services research"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Foreword (to follow)Preface (to follow)Nomenclature/NotationTable of CasesChapter 1 - Introduction1.1 Introduction to randomised trials1.2 Explanatory or pragmatic trials1.3 How does a cluster randomised trial differ from other trials? 1.3.1 Recruitment, randomisation and consent1.3.2 Definition of cluster size1.3.3 Analysis and sample size1.3.4 Interventions used in cluster randomised trials1.4 Between cluster variability1.4.1 Factors that contribute to between cluster variability1.4.2 Measuring between cluster variability1.5 Why carry out cluster randomised trials?1.5.1 The intervention necessarily acts at the cluster level1.5.2 Practical and/or ethical difficulties in randomising at cluster level1.5.3 Contamination at health professional level1.5.4 Contamination between members of a cluster1.5.5 Cost or administrative convenience1.5.6 Ensuring intervention