Checklist for intervention, follow-up and adherence

This checklist has been contributed by Dave Sackett ( www.davesackett.com ), who prepared it for the forthcoming 3rd edition of Clinical Epidemiology; A Basic Science for Answering Questions about Health Care, to be published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins in 2005.

• Based on your trial’s question, specify the precise experimental and comparison regimens.
• Identify a source for the regimens and, if you plan to blind the patients and/or clinicians, ensure that they and their containers are indistinguishable.
• Set up a system for distributing and maintaining supplies of the regimens.
• When patients and/or clinicians are blind, set up a system for emergency code-breaking.
• When patients and/or clinicians are blind, set up systems for maintaining blindness.
• Decide what to do about monitoring (and, if necessary, improving) patient compliance.
• Set up a system for avoiding (and documenting) contamination and co-intervention
• Based on your trial’s question, design the follow-up procedures.
• Set up a system for monitoring (and, if necessary, improving) protocol adherence by trial clinicians and staff.

Back to Description of intervention and intervention delivery OR Back to Blinding

This document was last updated on 25th March 2005.