Translating Research Into Practice
The Stepped-Wedge Trial Design: Paving the Way for Cancer Care Delivery Research
Ya-Huei Li, PhD, Elizabeth Mullette, RN, MSN, and Jeannine M. Brant, PhD, APRN, AOCN®, FAAN
Billings Clinic Cancer Center, Billings, Montana
Authors’ disclosures of conflicts of interest are found at the end of this article.
Jeannine M. Brant, PhD, APRN, AOCN®, FAAN, Billings Clinic Cancer Center, 2825 8th Ave N. Billings, MT 59107.
E-mail: jbrant@billingsclinic.org
J Adv Pract Oncol 2018;9(7):722–727 |
https://doi.org/10.6004/jadpro.2018.9.7.3 |
© 2018 Harborside™
ABSTRACT
Abstract
Cancer care delivery research (CCDR) is an emerging field that investigates ways to optimally provide care for patients within complex health-care systems. Novel research designs are essential to efficiently study CCDR research questions. A stepped-wedge trial (SWT) is one such pragmatic design and is similar to a parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT). An SWT design has several advantages. It can examine the clinical effectiveness of an intervention by using participants as the control group, address potential ethical issues, and extend time for trial implementation or policy changes with fewer resources than are used to conduct several RCTs. All participants eventually receive the intervention, which can make the trial more desirable for patient participation. This article aims to introduce and discuss the SWT study design and to encourage future application for CCDR and other oncology-related research.
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