Table 1

Data collection methods used to address each aim and question of the process evaluation

AimsData collection method
iiiiiiivvvi
Aim 1: Explain the trial results in terms of fidelity and engagement:       
1.1 Were the intervention and control arms delivered as intended:      
GPsXX  XX
PatientsXXXXXX
CST  XX  
1.2 What did ‘usual care’ entail?      
GPs X  X 
Patients X  X 
1.3 What types of issues were discussed or actioned during the interactions between the CST/GPs and the patients?      
GPs X  X 
CST XXXX 
1.4 Participants and healthcare professionals’ perspectives on how, why and for whom the interactions did or did not work? (semistructured qualitative interviews).      
GPs    X 
CST    X 
Patients    X 
1.5 Were the primary and secondary outcome effects due to the nature of the implementation or to the intervention?      
GPs X  X 
Patients XXXX 
Aim 2: Feasibility and acceptability of scaling the intervention in Australia       
2.1 What are the possible barriers and enablers to rolling-out the model in Australian primary care?      
GPs  X X 
Patients  X X 
2.2 Do patients and GPs value the intervention as delivered?    X 
GPs    X 
Patients    X 
2.3 Are the results generalisable to other patients with OA, healthcare service providers and across states?      
 X   X 
2.4 Is the intervention cost-effective compared with usual care?      
Patients X XX 

  • i. Analysis of inclusion / exlusion criteria, screening logs and withdrawal logs.

  • ii. Analysis of the quantitative data collected in electonic surveys for both the GPs and patients with OA.

  • iii. Analysis of a sample of recorded telephone interactions between the CST responsible for providing the intervention and the patients with OA

  • iv. Audit of data collected over the trial (the electronic consultation notes) that captures the number, length and nature of the interactions between the CST and patients with OA.

  • v. Semi-structured interviews with patient participants and the GPs and CST involved in the study.

  • vi. Audit of training logs and other activity logs for GPs in the intervention group. This includes analysis of web usage statistics.