Simple compared to covariate-constrained randomization methods in balancing baseline characteristics: a case study of randomly allocating 72 hemodialysis centers in a cluster trial.
Ahmed A Al-JaishiStephanie N DixonEric McArthurP J DevereauxLehana ThabaneAmit X GargPublished in: Trials (2021)
In this setting with 72 clusters, constraining the randomization using historical information achieved better balance on baseline characteristics compared with simple randomization; however, the magnitude of benefit was modest.