title: Design and analysis of stepped wedge cluster randomized trials.
abstract: Cluster randomized trials (CRT) are often used to evaluate therapies or interventions in situations where individual randomization is not possible or not desirable for logistic, financial or ethical reasons. While a significant and rapidly growing body of literature exists on CRTs utilizing a "parallel" design (i.e. I clusters randomized to each treatment), only a few examples of CRTs using crossover designs have been described. In this article we discuss the design and analysis of a particular type of crossover CRT - the stepped wedge - and provide an example of its use.
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hussey
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003198:Computer Simulation; D016358:Contact Tracing; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012107:Research Design; D018401:Sample Size; D015231:Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Bacterial / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy / Q000635:transmission