SynthesisImplementation science : IS2025
How well are implementation strategies and target healthcare professional behaviors reported? A secondary analysis of 204 implementation trials using the TIDieR checklist and AACTT framework.
Synthesis in Implementation science : IS, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Implementation strategies for embedding patient-reported outcome and experience measures (PROMs/PREMs) in routine care: secondary analysis of an umbrella review.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2026Pooled it
- Implementation science and the clinical trial workforce: A national needs assessment of training and practice.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2026Article
- Defining and measuring implementation climate: a scoping review and concept analysis.Implementation science communications · 2026Review
- Enablers of Post-Validation Surveillance for Lymphatic Filariasis in the Pacific Islands: A Nominal Group Technique and Expert Elicitation.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2026Article
- Conducting rigorous implementation evaluations in real word settings: lessons from a consensus approach to perioperative pathway implementation for elective surgery.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- The 14th Canadian Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus: From research breakthroughs to equitable health care for priority populations.Canadian liver journal · 2025Article
- Using the behavior change technique ontology to characterize the content of implementation strategies: a secondary analysis of 151 trials targeting evidence-based nursing practice.Translational behavioral medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
21 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClear specification and reporting of implementation strategies and their targeted healthcare professional behaviors are essential for replication, adaptation, and cumulative learning in implementation science. However, critical gaps remain in the consistent use of reporting frameworks. This study aimed to: (1) assess the completeness of implementation strategy reporting using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist; (2) examine trends in implementation strategy reporting over time; and (3) assess the completeness of the reporting of healthcare professional behaviors targeted for change using the Action, Actor, Context, Target, Time (AACTT) framework.
methodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of 204 trials included in a systematic review of implementation strategies aimed at changing healthcare professional behavior. Implementation strategies were assessed using the 12-item TIDieR checklist; target behaviors were characterized using the five AACTT domains. Two independent reviewers extracted and coded the data. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize reporting patterns. Data were synthesized narratively and presented in tables, with trends illustrated via a scatterplot.
resultsAssessment of implementation strategy reporting using TIDieR showed that procedural details (98%), materials used (95%), and modes of delivery (88%) were frequently reported. Critical elements such as strategy tailoring (28%), fidelity assessment (19% planned; 17% actual), and modifications (10%) were often missing. A modest improvement in reporting was observed after the publication of TIDieR, with median scores increasing from 15.0 (IQR: 13.0-16.0) pre-2014 to 16.0 (IQR: 15.0-18.0) post-2014. Assessment of target healthcare professional behavior reporting using AACTT indicated that actions (e.g., "assess illness") and actors (e.g., nurses) were generally well reported at a high level. However, key contextual and temporal details were largely absent. While physical context was documented in all studies, the emotional and social contexts of behaviors were rarely reported. Crucial information on the duration, frequency, and period of behaviors was rarely reported.
conclusionsImplementation strategies and target behaviors are not consistently or sufficiently reported in trials. Increased adoption of structured reporting tools such as TIDieR and AACTT is essential to enhance transparency. Incorporating these frameworks during protocol development could strengthen intervention evaluation and reporting, advancing implementation science and fostering cumulative knowledge.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42019130446.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic 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 Socratic graph.