plotblockrand {blockrand}

Create a pdf file of randomization cards

Description

Creates a pdf file of randomization cards based on the output from blockrand. This file can then be printed and the cards put into envelopes for use by a study coordinator for assigning subjects to treatment.

Usage

plotblockrand(x, file = "blockrand.pdf", top, middle, bottom,
blockrand.text, width = 11, height = 8.5, par.args, id.col = "id",
stratum.col = "stratum",
treat.col = "treatment", cut.marks = FALSE, top.ho, top.vo, middle.ho,
middle.vo, bottom.ho, bottom.vo, nrow=2, ncol=2, ...)

Arguments

x

A data frame, usually the output from blockrand

file

The name of the pdf file to create (include the .pdf in the name)

top

A character vector or list (see details) with the template to be printed at the top of each card

middle

A character vector or list (see details) with the template to be printed in the middle of each card (positioned to be visible through the window of an envelope)

bottom

A single character string to be printed at the bottom of each card

blockrand.text

A list with default values to use for other options

width

Passed to pdf

height

Passed to pdf

par.args

A list containing additional arguments to par before plotting the text

id.col

Name or number of the column in x that contains the id's of the subjects

stratum.col

Name or number of the column in x that contains the names of the strata

treat.col

Name or number of the column in x that contains the treatment assignments

cut.marks

Logical, should cut marks be plotted as well (useful if printing on plain paper then cutting apart)

top.ho

Shift top text to the right(left)

top.vo

Shift top text up(down)

middle.ho

Shift middle text to the right(left)

middle.vo

Shift middle text up(down)

bottom.ho

Shift bottom text to the right(left)

bottom.vo

Shift bottom text up(down)

nrow

Number of rows of cards to print

ncol

Number of columns of cards to print

...

Optional arguments passed to pdf

Details

This function creates a pdf file with randomization "cards". It puts 4 cards per page. You can either print the file onto perforated cards (Avery 8387) or onto regular paper then cut the cards apart. The top of each card can then be folded over (extra protection from someone trying to read the upcoming treatments) and the card placed in an envelope (letter size) with a window and sealed. The envelopes are then used by a study coordinator to assign subjects to treatments as they are enrolled into the trial.

Each card is split into 3 parts, top, middle, and bottom.

The top part is printed flush left and is the part that will be folded over for better security. Information on the treatment assignment goes here along with any other information you want.

The middle part is printed centered so that it will appear through the window of the envelope. The subject ID number and stratification information should go here.

The bottom part is limited to a single line that will be printed flush right at the bottom of the card. This can be used for additional instructions to the study coordinator (e.g. call the statistician at 123-4567 to record assignment).

The top, middle, and bottom templates can be vectors or lists. If the vectors have length greater than 1, then each element of the vector will be printed on a separate line (if there are 3 elements in top then there will be 3 lines at the top, etc.), bottom should only have a single element. If top, middle, or bottom are lists then they should have an element named "text" that consists of a character vector containing the template. The lists can then also have optional elements named "font" and "col", these vectors should be the same length as the "text" vector and represent the fonts and colors to use for the corresponding lines of text (for example if font is c(1,2,1) then the 2nd line will be printed bold).

If the template in top or middle contains "%ID%" (not including the quotes, but including the percent signs) then this string will be replaced with the contents of the ID column for each card. If they contain "%STRAT%" then it will be replaced with the contents of the stratum column. If top contains "%TREAT%" then it will be replaced with the contents of the treatment column (note that this is not available in the middle template).

If any of the arguments top, middle, or bottom are missing then the function will look for a corresponding element in the blockrand.text argument (a list) to use as the template. If the list does not exist, or the list does not have a corresponding element, then that portion of the card will be blank. Specifying the argument when calling the function will override the blockrand.text list.

The arguments top.ho, middle.ho, and bottom.ho move the corresponding parts to the right (left if negative). The units are approximately strwidth("W") so specifying a value of 0.5 will move the section about half a character to the right. The arguments top.vo, middle.vo, and bottom.vo move the corresponding parts up (down if negative). The units are approximately 1.5*strheight("Wj").

If any of the offset arguments are not specified then the corresponding element of the list "blockrand.text" is used if it exists otherwise they are 0.

The idea of the "blockrand.text" list is to set common defaults for your system (the default positions work for me, but you may want to tweak things for your system) including templates that are commonly used in your institution. Individual pieces can then be overridden with the function arguments. You can have a list saved with your defaults and pass that list to the blockrand.text argument.

Value

This function does not return anything useful, it is run for the side effect of creating a pdf file. The pdf file will have 4 cards per page and 1 card for each line of x.

Note

Adobe Acrobat (and possibly other pdf viewers) will often try to rescale the page when printing, for best results turn this feature off before printing.

Author(s)

Greg Snow [e-mail]

Examples

## stratified by sex, 100 in stratum, 2 treatments
male <- blockrand(n=100, id.prefix='M', block.prefix='M',stratum='Male')
female <- blockrand(n=100, id.prefix='F', block.prefix='F',stratum='Female')

my.study <- rbind(male,female)

## Not run: 
plotblockrand(my.study,'mystudy.pdf',
   top=list(text=c('My Study','Patient: %ID%','Treatment: %TREAT%'),
            col=c('black','black','red'),font=c(1,1,4)),
   middle=list(text=c("My Study","Sex: %STRAT%","Patient: %ID%"),
               col=c('black','blue','green'),font=c(1,2,3)),
   bottom="Call 123-4567 to report patient entry",
   cut.marks=TRUE)

### or

my.blockrand.text <- list(
   top=list(text=c('My Study','Patient: %ID%','Treatment: %TREAT%'),
            col=c('black','black','red'),font=c(1,1,4)),
   middle=list(text=c("My Study","Sex: %STRAT%","Patient: %ID%"),
               col=c('black','blue','green'),font=c(1,2,3)),
   bottom="Call 123-4567 to report patient entry")

plotblockrand(my.study, 'mystudy.pdf', blockrand.text=my.blockrand.text,
     cut.marks=TRUE)

## End(Not run)