Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36949541›Full record

ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2023

Feasibility indicators in obesity-related behavioral intervention preliminary studies: a historical scoping review.

Christopher D Pfledderer, Lauren von Klinggraeff, Sarah Burkart, Luke Wolfenden, John P A Ioannidis, Michael W Beets

Full text readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Developing an implementation fidelity measure for a family healthy weight program.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Intervention Mapping for Refining a Sport-Based Public Health Intervention in Rural Schools.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024
    Article
  8. Refined Feasibility Testing of an 8-Week Sport and Physical Activity Intervention in a Rural Middle School.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Christopher D PfleddererArnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC, 29205, USA. chris.pfledderer@sc.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7503-8554
Lauren von KlinggraeffArnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC, 29205, USA.
Sarah BurkartArnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC, 29205, USA.
Luke WolfendenSchool of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, 2318, Australia.
John P A IoannidisDepartments of Medicine, of Epidemiology and Population Health, of Biomedical Data Science, and of Statistics, and Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Michael W BeetsArnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC, 29205, USA.

Funding

Targeting Behavioral Adjustment and Healthy Lifestyle in Preschool-Age Children Using an Integrated Family-Based InterventionP20GM130420 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · PI GOODRUM, NADA MUSSAD · 2020 to 2024
$11.2M
A Meta-Epidemiological Assessment of the Role of Pilot Studies in the Design of Well-Powered Trials - the Pilot ProjectR01HL149141 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · PI BEETS, MICHAEL W · 2019 to 2022
$2.4M
Predictors of Effective Scaling: A Meta-Epidemiological Study of Bias in Early-Stage Studies to Prevent Chronic DiseaseF31HL158016 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · PI VON KLINGGRAEFF, LAUREN ELIZABETH · 2021 to 2023
$99k
NHLBI NIH HHS F31 HL158016NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL149141NHLBI NIH HHS R01HL149141NIGMS NIH HHS P20 GM130420NIGMS NIH HHS P20GM130420
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBehavioral interventions are often complex, operate at multiple levels, across settings, and employ a range of behavior change techniques. Collecting and reporting key indicators of initial trial and intervention feasibility is essential to decisions for progressing to larger-scale trials. The extent of reporting on feasibility indicators and how this may have changed over time is unknown. The aims of this study were to (1) conduct a historical scoping review of the reporting of feasibility indicators in behavioral pilot/feasibility studies related to obesity published through 2020, and (2) describe trends in the amount and type of feasibility indicators reported in studies published across three time periods: 1982-2006, 2011-2013, and 2018-2020.

methodsA search of online databases (PubMed, Embase, EBSCOhost, Web of Science) for health behavior pilot/feasibility studies related to obesity published up to 12/31/2020 was conducted and a random sample of 600 studies, 200 from each of the three timepoints (1982-2006, 2011-2013, and 2018-2020), was included in this review. The presence/absence of feasibility indicators, including recruitment, retention, participant acceptability, attendance, compliance, and fidelity, were identified/coded for each study. Univariate logistic regression models were employed to assess changes in the reporting of feasibility indicators across time.

resultsA total of 16,365 unique articles were identified of which 6873 of these were reviewed to arrive at the final sample of 600 studies. For the total sample, 428 (71.3%) studies provided recruitment information, 595 (99.2%) provided retention information, 219 (36.5%) reported quantitative acceptability outcomes, 157 (26.2%) reported qualitative acceptability outcomes, 199 (33.2%) reported attendance, 187 (31.2%) reported participant compliance, 23 (3.8%) reported cost information, and 85 (14.2%) reported treatment fidelity outcomes. When compared to the Early Group (1982-2006), studies in the Late Group (2018-2020) were more likely to report recruitment information (OR=1.60, 95%CI 1.03-2.49), acceptability-related quantitative (OR=2.68, 95%CI 1.76-4.08) and qualitative (OR=2.32, 95%CI 1.48-3.65) outcomes, compliance outcomes (OR=2.29, 95%CI 1.49-3.52), and fidelity outcomes (OR=2.13, 95%CI 1.21, 3.77).

conclusionThe reporting of feasibility indicators within behavioral pilot/feasibility studies has improved across time, but key aspects of feasibility, such as fidelity, are still not reported in the majority of studies. Given the importance of behavioral intervention pilot/feasibility studies in the translational science spectrum, there is a need for improving the reporting of feasibility indicators.

Indexed as

BehavioralFeasibilityImplementationPilotTranslational science

Identifiers

PMID36949541
PMCPMC10032007

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Registered trials

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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.