Table 1 Points to consider when developing an intervention specific treatment adherence scale
Consideration | Implication and response |
|---|---|
Unclear expectations around standard of care to be delivered? | This may risk inconsistency in coding. Clear expectations should be set which will also enable the Facilitator to be recommended to have further supervision or training if needed |
Topic delivered in a different session to that planned? | If this is acceptable within a tailored intervention coding ‘full’ intervention sets rather than individual sessions may be helpful. Complementing assessment with data from additional data sources such as clinical report forms may also be helpful |
Topic delivered out of prescribed order? | Separate coding for presence and delivery in the correct format may be necessary |
Intervention strategies are dependent on individual (tailored) | If tailored a drop-down list of strategies may be necessary |
Not all topics are appropriate in all contexts? | Delivery criteria may need to reflect if topics are not applicable and account for this in scoring |
Is it obvious what is encompassed at each level of quality coding? | Descriptions may need to be provided for each quality level. Fewer levels e.g., three versus five may be preferable |
Could non-intervention strategies be delivered and would this matter? | Additions to designed intervention strategies should be coded as well as omissions. These may be either beneficial or detrimental to the intervention |