Article Text
Symposia
Symposium 3: Evaluation of large-scale and complex public health interventions
S3.2 The role of community based randomised trials in the evaluation of public health interventions
Abstract
In this talk I discuss methodological issues that arise in trials in which intact communities are allocated to each of several intervention groups. The issues discussed include the choice between a randomised and non-randomised design, the need to avoid selection bias when community members are sub-sampled, and the challenges involved in maintaining study power. Ethical issues unique to community intervention trials are also discussed.