Reporting guidelines for population health and policy interventions: TIDieR-PHP. (13th November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Armstrong, Rebecca; Campbell, Mhairi; Craig, Peter; Hoffmann, Tammy; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Waters, Elizabeth
• Is Part Of: Lancet. Volume 386(2015)Supplement 2
• Page Start: S19
• Publication Date: 2015-11-13
• Subjects: Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine; Medicine; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 610.5
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00857-0
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0140-6736

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Inadequate descriptions of interventions in reports of research studies impede evidence synthesis, and result in unnecessary research duplication and suboptimum real-world implementation. The Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) provides guidance for reporting interventions, and is primarily focussed on interventions delivered to individuals or small groups. We aimed to assess the need for additional reporting guidance for population health and policy (PHP) interventions and, if appropriate, develop an extension to TIDieR. Methods: This study was the preliminary stage of an expert consensus consultation. We drew on our collective experience of evaluating and synthesising evidence of PHP interventions that fall within the scope of Cochrane Public Health to purposively select a diverse range of interventions and compare these with the original TIDieR checklist and to assess whether additional reporting items were needed. Interventions studied included tobacco and alcohol regulation, health service reorganisation, welfare system changes, conditional incentives for behaviour change, and environmental or infrastructural improvement programmes. Intervention descriptions from published evaluations were abstracted independently by four authors. Items that could be fitted into TIDieR were identified, and new categories were developed for those items that did not fit the existing template. A revised TIDieR-PHP reporting template was created through an iterative process of incorporating items into the draft template and testing them against additional interventions. Findings: Six example intervention studies were selected for analysis, covering categories including incentive-based, regulatory, infrastructural, material benefits, systems and policy, and taxation and pricing interventions. Many population-level interventions have characteristics that do not fit well within the existing TIDieR framework, but affect intervention implementation and success. Attributes of PHP interventions not adequately captured include the policy and organisational setting of the intervention; political acceptability and relevant co-interventions; and key features of the dose involved (eg, for interventions offering transfer payments or imposing sanctions). Interpretation: This preliminary stage of the development of TIDieR-PHP found that important features of population-level interventions might not be easily captured by existing guidelines. TIDieR-PHP aims to provide guidance for reporting population health and policy interventions so that learning from population health research is maximised. It will be further developed via a modified Delphi survey. Funding: None.