Connelly Luke B
Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine (CONROD), Herston, Australia.
Control Clin Trials. 2003 Oct;24(5):544-59. doi: 10.1016/s0197-2456(03)00093-x.
The design of randomized controlled trials entails decisions that have economic as well as statistical implications. In particular, the choice of an individual or cluster randomization design may affect the cost of achieving the desired level of power, other things being equal. Furthermore, if cluster randomization is chosen, the researcher must decide how to balance the number of clusters, or "sites," and the size of each site. This article investigates these interrelated statistical and economic issues. Its principal purpose is to elucidate the statistical and economic trade-offs to assist researchers to employ randomized controlled trials that have desired economic, as well as statistical, properties.
随机对照试验的设计涉及到具有经济和统计意义的决策。特别是，在其他条件相同的情况下，个体随机化设计或整群随机化设计的选择可能会影响达到所需检验效能水平的成本。此外，如果选择整群随机化，研究者必须决定如何平衡整群（或“研究地点”）的数量以及每个地点的规模。本文将研究这些相互关联的统计和经济问题。其主要目的是阐明统计和经济方面的权衡，以帮助研究者采用具有理想经济和统计特性的随机对照试验。
