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:
- Reviewers noted that the report discussed focus groups without providing an explanation for how researchers conducted the groups or a report of the findings from them. Researchers removed the allusion to focus groups. They plan to publish qualitative results from those groups separately after a more-complete analysis.
- Reviewers noted that patients and providers who participated in the study were not fully representative, with providers younger than average and patients more educated than average. The researchers acknowledged this and explained that this bias reflected the providers and patients who expressed interest in participating in the study.
- Reviewers suggested that the weak intervention effects observed on outcomes could be the consequence, at least in part, of the specific scale used to measure shared decision making . The researchers agreed and explained that they chose this scale because it tries to avoid bias by using a third-party observer for assessing shared decision making, rather than self-reports by patients or providers. The researchers added that a newer version of the scale which has fewer questions, takes less time, and focuses on eliciting patient preferences may improve analyses in future studies.
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Project Details
Other Health Services Interventions
Shared Decision Making
Technology Interventions
Telemedicine
Training and Education Interventions
^Margarita Alegria, PhD, was affiliated with the Cambridge Health Alliance when this project was initially funded.