Are shared decision making studies well enough described to be replicated? Secondary analysis of a Cochrane systematic review

BackgroundInterventions to change health professionals' behaviour are often difficult to replicate. Incomplete reporting is a key reason and a source of waste in health research. We aimed to assess the reporting of shared decision making (SDM) interventions. MethodsWe extracted data from a 2017 Cochrane systematic review whose aim was to determine the effectiveness of interventions to increase the use of SDM by healthcare professionals. In a secondary analysis, we used the 12 items of the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist to analyze quantitative data. We used a conceptual framework for implementation fidelity to analyze qualitative data, which added details to various TIDieR items (e.g. under what materials? we also reported on ease of access to materials). We used SAS 9.4 for all analyses. ResultsOf the 87 studies included in the 2017 Cochrane review, 83 were randomized trials, three were non-randomized trials, and one was a controlled before-and-after study. Items most completely reported were: brief name (87/87, 100%), why (rationale) (86/87, 99%), and what (procedures) (81/87, 93%). The least completely reported items (under 50%) were materials (29/87, 33%), who (23/87, 26%), and when and how much (18/87, 21%), as well as the conditional items: tailoring (8/87, 9%), modifications (3/87, 4%), and how well (actual) (i.e. delivered as planned?) (3/87, 3%). Interventions targeting patients were better reported than those targeting health professionals or both patients and health professionals, e.g. 84% of patient-targeted intervention studies reported How, (delivery modes), vs. 67% for those targeting health professionals and 32% for those targeting both. We also reported qualitative analyses for most items. Overall reporting of items for all interventions was 41.5%. ConclusionsReporting on all groups or components of SDM interventions was incomplete in most SDM studies published up to 2017. Our results provide guidance for authors on what elements need better reporting to improve the replicability of their SDM interventions.

Automated summary

Reporting of shared decision making (SDM) interventions in healthcare professionals' behavior change studies is often incomplete, making replication difficult. A review of SDM studies published up to 2017 found that reporting on all components of SDM interventions was incomplete in most studies. The findings provide guidance for authors on improving the replicability of their SDM interventions by better reporting.