Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #118964

Lawrence H. Moulton, Department of International Health, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-955-6370, lmoulton@jhsph.edu

Cluster-randomized studies with relatively small numbers of clusters can be unbalanced on important covariates across treatment arms if randomization is not constrained sufficiently. I focus on a particular type of study, a "stepped-wedge" design in which clinics are randomized to an entry sequence. An example of a tuberculosis intervention study in Brazil will be elaborated. Relevant analysis considerations will also be mentioned.

Learning Objectives:

• Listeners will learn why constrained randomization can be useful in community randomized trials, and how this can be implemented in a phased implementation trial.

Keywords: Biostatistics, Tuberculosis

Related Web page: www.tbhiv-create.org/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.