Comparison of the Matched-Pair Cluster-Randomized Trial (MP-CRT) to Other Restricted CRT Designs

Oregon Convention Center 

The literature for Cluster-Randomized Trials (CRTs) has emphasized that Restricted CRTs are superior to CRTs which utilize simple randomization for a single allocation (AKA randomization scheme). The four types of Restricted CRTs most-often utilized are Matched-Pair Cluster-Randomization (MPCR), Stratified Cluster-Randomization (SCR), Minimization Cluster-Randomization (MCR), and Covariate-Constrained Cluster-Randomization (CCCR). While recent literature seems to land on either M-CR or CC-CR as being superior to both MPCR and SCR, there is a lack of either empirical or theoretical evidence to support this claim. In fact, some of the putative disadvantages of MPCR compared to CCCR have been shown to be theoretically doubtful. It is also a fact that MPCR has both a conceptual and intuitive appeal to our non-statistician colleagues, as well as close analogues to matched cohort and case-control designs with which they are often intimately familiar. As such, we present empirical evidence to better understand the conditions under which MPCR is not inferior to CCCR, both via a simulation study and through several real-world examples.

Cluster-Randomized Trials 

Health Policy Statistics Section