Information-theoretic criteria for optimizing designs of individually randomized stepped-wedge clinical trials

Belmiro P. M. Duarte, Anthony C. Atkinson and Mirjam Moerbeek

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Clinical trials are essential for advancing medical knowledge and improving health care, with Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs) considered the gold standard for minimizing bias and generating reliable evidence on treatment efficacy and safety. Stepped-wedge individual RCTs, which randomize participants into sequences transitioning from control to intervention at staggered time points, are increasingly adopted. To improve their design, we propose an information-theoretic framework based on D– and A–optimality criteria for participant allocation to sequences. Our approach leverages semidefinite programming for automated computation and is applicable across a range of settings, varying in: (i) number of sequences, (ii) attrition rates, (iii) optimality criteria, (iv) error correlation structures, and (v) multi-objective designs using the ϵ-constraint method.

Keywords: randomized stepped-wedge; information-theoretic criteria; 62K05; optimal design of experiments; correlation structure; clinical trials; 90C47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-08-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Statistics and Computing, 11, August, 2025, 35(6). ISSN: 0960-3174

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/129135/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:129135

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().