Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for evaluating guideline implementation strategies.

The choice of study design for guideline implementation studies will determine the confidence with which the observed effects can be attributed to the interventions under study. In general, cluster randomized trials, of which there are different types, provide the most robust design. However, the use of these designs has implications for the power, conduct and analysis of studies. Wherever possible, designs allowing head-to-head comparisons, which incorporate baseline measures of performance, should be used.

[1]  Nigel Rice,et al.  Multilevel Models: Applications to Health Data , 1996, Journal of health services research & policy.

[2]  G O Barnett,et al.  Computerized concurrent review of prenatal care. , 1978, QRB. Quality review bulletin.

[3]  J. Knottnerus,et al.  Fitting a routine health-care activity into a randomized trial: an experiment possible without informed consent? , 1997, Journal of clinical epidemiology.

[4]  D. Torgerson,et al.  Understanding controlled trials: What is a patient preference trial? , 1998, BMJ.

[5]  N. Freemantle,et al.  [Impact of mass media on the use of health services. A systematic review of the literature]. , 1998, Epidemiologia e prevenzione.

[6]  N. Day,et al.  Cluster randomization in large public health trials: the importance of antecedent data. , 1992, Statistics in medicine.

[7]  D. Torgerson,et al.  What is a patient preference trial , 1998 .

[8]  Sample size in guidelines trials. , 2000, Family practice.

[9]  S. Pocock,et al.  Clinical Trials: A Practical Approach , 1984 .

[10]  T. Cook,et al.  Quasi-experimentation: Design & analysis issues for field settings , 1979 .

[11]  J. Bland,et al.  Sample size in guideline trials , 2000 .

[12]  B. Crabtree,et al.  The individual over time: time series applications in health care research. , 1990, Journal of clinical epidemiology.

[13]  J Lomas,et al.  Evaluating the Message: The Relationship Between Compliance Rate and the Subject of a Practice Guideline , 1994, Medical care.

[14]  R. Hyman.  Quasi-Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings (Book) , 1982 .

[15]  M. Lipsey,et al.  The efficacy of psychological, educational, and behavioral treatment. Confirmation from meta-analysis. , 1993, American Psychologist.

[16]  Allan Donner,et al.  Some aspects of the design and analysis of cluster randomization trials , 2002 .

[17]  William G. Cochran,et al.  Experimental Designs, 2nd Edition , 1950 .

[18]  L. Duff,et al.  Viewpoint: Implementing Clinical Guidelines: How Can Informatics Help? , 1998, J. Am. Medical Informatics Assoc..

[19]  A. Samanta,et al.  Referrals from general practice to a rheumatology clinic. , 1988, British journal of rheumatology.

[20]  C. A. Moser,et al.  Survey Methods in Social Investigation , 1958 .

[21]  A. L. Cochrane,et al.  Effectiveness and efficiency: random reflections on health services , 1972 .

[22]  A. Donner,et al.  Randomization by cluster. Sample size requirements and analysis. , 1981, American journal of epidemiology.

[23]  J. Grimshaw,et al.  Closing the Gap Between Research and Practice: An Overview of Systematic Reviews of Interventions to Promote Implementation of Research Findings by Health Care Professionals , 1998 .