Book description
Cluster randomisedtrials 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.
Sandra Eldridge - Senior Lecturer, Medical Statistics,
Queen Mary, University of London, UK
Dr Eldridge is well
experienced in designing and analyzing high quality cluster randomized
trials, having worked on ten such trials since the mid 1990s. An
award-winning speaker on randomized trials, Dr Eldridge has given
numerous presentations in many settings and conferences over the last
seven years.
