Assessing the Strength and Integrity of an Intervention

Abstract

A clinical research protocol can be improved through an assessment of an intervention's strength and integrity.

Protecting the power of interventions through proper reporting

“…29,30 This competence directly influences both the intervention’s outcomes and the fidelity of its delivery, and thus should be detailed in the research report. Include the interventionist’s (a) professional credentials, such as discipline and education; (b) training specific to the intervention; (c) any relevant social characteristics; and (d) any preference toward one intervention over another in the case of comparative research.…”

Publishing Pilot Intervention Work

“…An important aspect of intervention delivery is intervention integrity, or fidelity, which is the extent to which an intervention is consistently delivered to each subject as it was originally designed. Pilot studies provide excellent opportunities for assessing intervention integrity to permit modifications before they are implemented in a large trial setting (Brandt, Kirsch, Lewis, & Casey, 2004;Chalmers et al, 2004;Chan & Vernon, 2008;Kearney & Simonelli, 2006). An important dimension of integrity that should be evaluated in pilot work is intervention purity, that is, the extent to which subjects received unplanned interventions in addition to or instead of the intended intervention (Brandt et al, 2004).…”

“…Dose integrity likewise can be measured in pilot work (Brandt et al, 2004). Dose integrity can be assessed by tracking the number and duration of intervention sessions.…”

“…Competency of interventionists is another aspect of intervention delivery that can affect outcomes and should be explored in pilot work (Brandt et al, 2004). The ability of various personnel to deliver an intervention in an identical manner can be evaluated to determine if their professional credentials or other characteristics are confounders of intervention effectiveness (Burns & Grove, 2005;Connelly, 2008;Jambunathan & Bellaire, 1996).…”

“…The ability of various personnel to deliver an intervention in an identical manner can be evaluated to determine if their professional credentials or other characteristics are confounders of intervention effectiveness (Burns & Grove, 2005;Connelly, 2008;Jambunathan & Bellaire, 1996). Likewise, pilot studies can be used to assess the adequacy of training for interventionists (Brandt et al, 2004;Hatton & Laiser, 2004;Jambunathan & Bellaire, 1996).…”