Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies
| Cluster RCTs N = 100 |
Individually randomized trials N = 100 |
Total N = 200 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| (%) | (%) | N (%) | |
| Publication year | |||
| 2013 | 51 | 45 | 96 (48) |
| 2014 | 40 | 49 | 89 (45) |
| 2015a | 9 | 6 | 15 (8) |
| Study had an explicit objective pertaining to equity | 64 | 55 | 119 (60) |
| Study was reported as conducted in a resource-constrained settingb | 40 | 22 | 62 (31) |
| Lower- or middle-income country | 28 | 11 | 39 (20) |
| Public hospital | 1 | 2 | 3 (2) |
| Conflict zone | 1 | 0 | 1 (0.5) |
| Other | 13 | 14 | 27 (14) |
| Study populationb | |||
| Students in primary or secondary school | 27 | 11 | 38 (19) |
| Workers | 3 | 3 | 6 (3) |
| Community members | 41 | 36 | 77 (39) |
| Patients | 19 | 46 | 65 (33) |
| Members of a particular professional group, such as health professionals or teachers | 3 | 1 | 4 (2) |
| Other | – | 11 | 11 (6) |
| Unit of randomization | |||
| Individuals | 100 | 100 (50) | |
| Schools | 27 | 27 (14) | |
| Workplace | 3 | 3 (2) | |
| Community or community organization | 26 | 26 (13) | |
| Medical practice | 12 | 12 (6) | |
| Other | 32 | 32 (16) | |
| Participants were recruited from: | |||
| Workplace | 5 | 1 | 6 (3) |
| School | 27 | 10 | 37 (19) |
| Other | 68 | 89 | 157 (79) |
| Studies that reported using special or tailored recruitment to increase enrollment of individuals who are members of socially disadvantaged populations | 11 | 32 | 43 (22) |
| Type of study | |||
| Focused on socially disadvantaged group | 78 | 79 | 157 (79) |
| Universal | 18 | 7 | 25 (13) |
| Both focused and universal | 4 | 14 | 18 (9) |
aThe search was conducted on 5 May 2015
bStudies could be classified as fitting more than one type of setting and more than one type of unit of randomization; therefore, numbers do not add up to 100. RCT randomized controlled trial