Comment in

• There are some circumstances where the stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial is preferable to the alternative: no randomized trial at all. Response to the commentary by Kotz and colleagues.

  Mdege ND, Man MS, Taylor nee Brown CA, Torgerson DJ. Mdege ND, et al. J Clin Epidemiol. 2012 Dec;65(12):1253-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2012.06.003. Epub 2012 Sep 9. J Clin Epidemiol. 2012. PMID: 22968178 No abstract available.
• Stepped wedge cluster randomized trials are efficient and provide a method of evaluation without which some interventions would not be evaluated.

  Hemming K, Girling A, Martin J, Bond SJ. Hemming K, et al. J Clin Epidemiol. 2013 Sep;66(9):1058-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2012.12.020. Epub 2013 Jul 9. J Clin Epidemiol. 2013. PMID: 23849737 No abstract available.
• The stepped wedge design does not inherently have more power than a cluster randomized controlled trial.

  Kotz D, Spigt M, Arts IC, Crutzen R, Viechtbauer W. Kotz D, et al. J Clin Epidemiol. 2013 Sep;66(9):1059-60. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2013.05.004. J Clin Epidemiol. 2013. PMID: 23953488 No abstract available.
• A stepped wedge cluster randomized trial is preferable for assessing complex health interventions.

  Keriel-Gascou M, Buchet-Poyau K, Rabilloud M, Duclos A, Colin C. Keriel-Gascou M, et al. J Clin Epidemiol. 2014 Jul;67(7):831-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.02.016. Epub 2014 Apr 26. J Clin Epidemiol. 2014. PMID: 24774471 No abstract available.
• Response to Keriel-Gascou et al.: higher efficiency and other alleged advantages are not inherent to the stepped wedge design.

  Viechtbauer W, Kotz D, Spigt M, Arts IC, Crutzen R. Viechtbauer W, et al. J Clin Epidemiol. 2014 Jul;67(7):834-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.02.015. Epub 2014 Apr 29. J Clin Epidemiol. 2014. PMID: 24786595 No abstract available.