Informing the dosing of interventions in randomized trials.

Journal Article (Journal Article;Review;Systematic Review)

Dosing is potentially the most important decision that must be made when building or refining behavioral interventions. In this paper, we propose standardized terminology and reporting of dosing information, which would inform intervention development, refinement for dissemination, and systematic reviews of dose-response relationships. Dosing of interventions may be characterized by duration, frequency, and amount. To illustrate the value of operationalizing these three parameters to evaluate dose-response relationships, 31 published reports of behavioral interventions to increase adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) were reviewed. The ART literature was characterized by under-reporting of dosing parameters, heterogeneity in dosing schedules, and heterogeneity in type of control group, which complicate analysis of dose-response relationships in systematic review and determination of the optimal dose for intervention dissemination. Improved reporting of the three dosing parameters and comparison of intended to actual delivery can inform the identification of the most effective intervention doses and the efficient implementation of efficacious interventions in clinical practice.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Voils, CI; Chang, Y; Crandell, J; Leeman, J; Sandelowski, M; Maciejewski, ML

Published Date

  • November 2012

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 33 / 6

Start / End Page

  • 1225 - 1230

PubMed ID

  • 22841930

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC3468665

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1559-2030

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.cct.2012.07.011

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States