Results Summary and Professional Abstract
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Peer-Review Summary
Peer review of PCORI-funded research helps make sure the report presents complete, balanced, and useful information about the research. It also assesses how the project addressed PCORI’s Methodology Standards. During peer review, experts read a draft report of the research and provide comments about the report. These experts may include a scientist focused on the research topic, a specialist in research methods, a patient or caregiver, and a healthcare professional. These reviewers cannot have conflicts of interest with the study.
The peer reviewers point out where the draft report may need revision. For example, they may suggest ways to improve descriptions of the conduct of the study or to clarify the connection between results and conclusions. Sometimes, awardees revise their draft reports twice or more to address all of the reviewers’ comments.
Peer reviewers commented, and the researchers made changes or provided responses. The comments and responses included the following:
- Overall, the reviewers found the report to be commendable, well organized, and clearly written, requiring only minor revisions.
- Reviewers noted that the lack of fidelity testing of the intervention led to a number of participants not receiving the complete study intervention. The researchers responded that they designed the study with the constraints of routine clinical practice in mind, taking into consideration some of the challenges likely to occur in implementing such an intervention in clinical settings. However, they also agreed that future efforts should have greater emphasis on early fidelity testing to identify potential barriers to intervention implementation.
- A reviewer commented that lack of oversight of telephone coaches allowed too many participants to not receive the intervention. The researchers noted that members of patient advocacy organizations performed the telephone coaching rather than study personnel or hospital staff. The researchers agreed that real-time monitoring and feedback during the intervention could have been helpful. They also added this point to the discussion.
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Project Details
Other Health Services Interventions
Technology Interventions
Training and Education Interventions
Low Health Literacy/Numeracy
Low Income
Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Urban