Table 8 Study results mapped to stop/go criteria
Go – proceed with full RCT | Amend – proceed to full RCT with changes | Stop – do not proceed unless major changes are possible | |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Feasibility of practice recruitment Can 6 practices be recruited to take part in 3 months? | If ≥ 5 practices are recruited to take part in 3 months | If ≥ 5 practices are recruited, but it takes longer than predicted (e.g. 3–6 months) | Unable to recruit at least 4 practices |
2. Feasibility of patient recruitment Can 10 patients per practice (total n = 60) be recruited? | If 8–10 patients are recruited in one month per practice: total of 60 (100%) | If 6–7 patients are recruited in one month per practice: total of 36–60 (60% to ≤ 100%) | If < 6 patients are recruited in one month per practice: total of ≤ 36 (< 60%) |
3. Feasibility of practice retention Can all 6 practices be retained in the study until completion? | ≥ 5 retained | ≥ 4 retained | ≤ 3 retained |
4. Feasibility of patient retentiona Can at least 90% of recruited patients be retained in the study until completion? | > 9 patients (90%) retained per practice | 7–8 patients (70–80%) retained per practice | < 7 patients (< 70%) retained per practice |
5. Intervention feasibility | Delivery of intervention judged strongly feasible by qualitative data | Delivery of intervention judged mainly feasible by qualitative data | Delivery of intervention judged problematic by qualitative data |