ArticleBMC public health2013
Challenges to evaluating complex interventions: a content analysis of published papers.
Article in BMC public health, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 111 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
111 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Approaches to economic evaluations of complex interventions in thailand: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Identifying the active components through the behaviour change techniques taxonomy in complex interventions for people living with multiple long-term health conditions: A systematic review.British journal of health psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Assessing complex interventions: a systematic review of outcomes used in randomised controlled trials on STI partner notification in high-income countries.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials of surgical treatments for ingrown toenails part II: healing time, post-operative complications, pain, and participant satisfaction.Journal of foot and ankle research · 2023Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions for sleep disturbances in people with dementia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions for perceptual disorders following stroke.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions supporting medical practitioners in the provision of lactation care: A systematic review and narrative analysis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Pooled it
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- Cognitive behavioural group therapy for male perpetrators of intimate partner violence: a systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- What is the impact on health and wellbeing of interventions that foster respect and social inclusion in community-residing older adults? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies.Systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Process evaluation of an intervention to reduce sleep problems in people living with dementia in nursing homes: a mixed-methods study.Age and ageing · 2025Trial
- Feasibility and Acceptability of Facilitated Advance Care Planning in Outpatient Clinics: A Qualitative Study of Patient and Caregivers Experiences.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2024Trial
- Trial
- An intervention to promote self-management, independence and self-efficacy in people with early-stage dementia: the Journeying through Dementia RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Implementation of a complex intervention to improve hospital discharge: process evaluation of a cluster randomised controlled trial.BMJ open · 2021Trial
- ADVANCE integrated group intervention to address both substance use and intimate partner abuse perpetration by men in substance use treatment: a feasibility randomised controlled trial.BMC public health · 2021Trial
- Assessing fidelity of a community based psychosocial intervention for people with mild dementia within a large randomised controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2021Trial
51 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is continuing interest among practitioners, policymakers and researchers in the evaluation of complex interventions stemming from the need to further develop the evidence base on the effectiveness of healthcare and public health interventions, and an awareness that evaluation becomes more challenging if interventions are complex.We undertook an analysis of published journal articles in order to identify aspects of complexity described by writers, the fields in which complex interventions are being evaluated and the challenges experienced in design, implementation and evaluation. This paper outlines the findings of this documentary analysis.
methodsThe PubMed electronic database was searched for the ten year period, January 2002 to December 2011, using the term "complex intervention*" in the title and/or abstract of a paper. We extracted text from papers to a table and carried out a thematic analysis to identify authors' descriptions of challenges faced in developing, implementing and evaluating complex interventions.
resultsThe search resulted in a sample of 221 papers of which full text of 216 was obtained and 207 were included in the analysis. The 207 papers broadly cover clinical, public health and methodological topics. Challenges described included the content and standardisation of interventions, the impact of the people involved (staff and patients), the organisational context of implementation, the development of outcome measures, and evaluation.
conclusionsOur analysis of these papers suggests that more detailed reporting of information on outcomes, context and intervention is required for complex interventions. Future revisions to reporting guidelines for both primary and secondary research may need to take aspects of complexity into account to enhance their value to both researchers and users of research.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.