The current use of feasibility studies in the assessment of feasibility for stepped-wedge cluster randomised trials: a systematic review

Table 3 Rationales given for conducting the identified feasibility studies

Rationales given	Number
Process type motivations (n = 11):
Acceptability of intervention	7
Identify issues/barriers to implementation	6
Adherence to intervention	4
Development of intervention	3
Retention rate estimation	3
Determining outcome measures	2
Test data collection methods	2
Assess amount of missing data	2
Other^a	5
Resource type motivations (n = 3):
Resources used in intervention	1
Post-intervention impact on service use and staff time	1
Time taken to complete study procedures	1
Waiting and consultation times	1
Patient volumes and staffing levels during study	1
Management type motivations (n = 0):
None reported	11
Scientific type motivations (n = 8):
Potential effectiveness of intervention	5
Assess cost-effectiveness/theoretical cost saving	3
Inform sample size calculation	3
Assess intervention safety	2
Estimate Intra Cluster Correlation Coefficient (ICC)	1
Assess correlation between measures	1
Assess distributional properties of measures	1

^aparticipant satisfaction; assess values-treatment concordance; acceptability relevance and importance of trial; test sampling methodologies; test feasibility of using stepped-wedge design
n = the number of studies that gave any motivation of this type

ISSN: 1471-2288