Reporting Behaviour Change Interventions: the Tidier Interdisciplinary Checklist of the Minimum Recommended Information

Abstract

Background: Reports of interventions, including behavioural interventions, frequently omit essential information, thus preventing intervention uptake. One analysis reported only 29% of non-pharmacological interventions were adequate. We aimed to develop a guide for reporting minimum data across all interventions (drug, surgery, rehabilitation, psychotherapy, behaviour change). Methods: EQUATOR stages for reporting guideline development were followed: 1. item generation 2. two-round international Delphi survey with 74 inter-disciplinary experts; 3. consensus meeting of 13 experts; 4. follow-up iterations and piloting. Results: The resulting checklist identified 12 items: brief name, why (rationale), what materials, what procedure, who provided, how, where, when and how much, tailoring, modifications, how well planned (fidelity assessment), how well delivered (fidelity outcomes). Each item has a brief explanation and inter-disciplinary examples. Conclusions: The TIDieR (Template for Intervention Description and Replication) checklist and guide can be applied to all interventions, as well as control interventions, used by authors to guide intervention report writing and journal editors and reviewers to ensure adequate published intervention descriptions.