Table 3.
Reporting of balance at baseline, overall, and bv tvoe of stepped-wedge design (Frequency, %)
| Characteristic | Overall |
Cross-sectional |
Open cohort |
Closed cohor |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (N = 160) | (N = 122) | (N = 15) | (N = 23) | ||
|
| |||||
| Balance at baseline reported? | |||||
| Yes | 142 (88.8) | 113 (92.6) | 12 (80.0) | 17 (73.9) | |
| At cluster-level only | 8 (5.0) | 7 (5.7) | 1 (6.7) | 0 | |
| At individual-level only | 92 (57.5) | 75 (61.5) | 7 (46.7) | 10 (43.5) | |
| Both cluster- and individual-level | 42 (26.3) | 31 (25.4) | 4 (26.7) | 7 (30.4) | |
| No | 18 (11.2) | 9 (7.4) | 3 (20.0) | 6 (26.1) | |
| Balance on individual-level characteristicsa | |||||
| Not reported | 26 (16.2) | 16 (13.1) | 4 (26.7) | 6 (26.1) | |
| Reported | 134 (83.8) | 106 (86.9) | 11 (73.3) | 17 (73.9) | |
| By condition | 105 (78.3) | 97 (91.5) | 4 (36.4) | 4 (23.5) | |
| By sequence or cluster | 27 (20.1) | 9 (8.5) | 4 (36.4) | 14 (82.4) | |
| By period | 2 (1.5) | 2 (1.9) | 0 | 0 | |
| By condition and sequence/cluster | 4 (2.9) | 4 (3.8) | 0 | 0 | |
| By condition and period | 3 (2.2) | 1 (0.9) | 2 (18.2) | 0 | |
| By sequence/cluster and period | 1 (0.7) | 0 | 0 | 1 (5.9) | |
| Other or unclear | 8 (6.0) | 4 (3.8) | 4 (36.4) | 0 | |
| Balance on cluster-level characteristicsa | |||||
| Not reported | 110 (68.8) | 84 (68.9) | 10 (66.7) | 16 (69.6) | |
| Reported | 50 (31.2) | 38 (31.1) | 5 (33.3) | 7 (30.4) | |
| By condition | 18 (36.0) | 16 (42.1) | 1 (20.0) | 1 (1.4) | |
| By sequence or cluster | 30 (60.0) | 20 (52.6) | 3 (60.0) | 7 (100.0) | |
| By period | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| By condition and sequence/cluster | 2 (4.0) | 2 (5.3) | 0 | 0 | |
| By condition and period | 2 (4.0) | 1 (2.6) | 0 | 0 | |
| By sequence/cluster and period | 1 (2.0) | 1 (2.6) | 0 | 0 | |
| Other or unclear | 3 (6.0) | 2 (5.3) | 1 (20.0) | 0 | |
| Balance on baseline values of primary outcome? | |||||
| No or not applicableb | 114 (71.2) | 93 (76.2) | 11 (73.3) | 10 (43.5) | |
| Yes | 46 (28.8) | 29 (23.8) | 4 (26.7) | 13 (56.5) | |
| Significance testing of baseline balance? | |||||
| Yes | 59 (36.9) | 48 (39.3) | 3 (20.0) | 8 (34.8) | |
| Simple test | 33 (55.9) | 25 (52.1) | 2 (66.7) | 6 (75.0) | |
| Other | 7 (11.9) | 7 (14.6) | 0 | 0 | |
| Not specified | 19 (32.2) | 16 (33.3) | 1 (33.3) | 2 (25.0) | |
| No | 101 (63.1) | 74 (60.7) | 12 (80.0) | 15 (65.2) | |
| Baseline imbalances reported? | |||||
| Yes | 72 (45.0) | 57 (46.7) | 5 (33.3) | 10 (43.5) | |
| No | 88 (55.0) | 65 (53.3) | 10 (66.7) | 13 (56.5) | |
a
Multiple selections possible.
b
Not applicable applies to “terminal” outcomes such as death or remission that cannot be measured repeatedly.