Developing multicomponent interventions using fractional factorial designs

• Published in: Statistics in medicine Vol. 28; no. 21; pp. 2687 - 2708
• Main Authors: Chakraborty, Bibhas, Collins, Linda M., Strecher, Victor J., Murphy, Susan A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 20.09.2009; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: experimental design; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Factorial experiments; Follow-Up Studies; fractional factorial design; Health sciences; Humans; Intervention; Mass Screening; Models, Statistical; multicomponent intervention; Research Design; screening; Simulation; Smoking cessation; Smoking Cessation - methods; Smoking Cessation - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 0277-6715; 1097-0258
• DOI: 10.1002/sim.3643

Multicomponent interventions composed of behavioral, delivery, or implementation factors in addition to medications are becoming increasingly common in health sciences. A natural experimental approach to developing and refining such multicomponent interventions is to start with a large number of potential components and screen out the least active ones. Factorial designs can be used efficiently in this endeavor. We address common criticisms and misconceptions regarding the use of factorial designs in these screening studies. We also provide an operationalization of screening studies. As an example, we consider the use of a screening study in the development of a multicomponent smoking cessation intervention. Simulation results are provided to support the discussions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.