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Table 1 Overview of study phases

From: Improvement of care for ICU patients with delirium by early screening and treatment: study protocol of iDECePTIvE study

Phase

Research question

Methods

Target population/data resource

Measures

A

What are the current practices (before-implementation) and the adherence to the delirium guideline in the participating ICUs?

Prospective, descriptive study, analyzing variation of care

Data from 6 ICUs

Indicators e.g.:

??-Adherence to delirium screening

??-Incidence of delirium

??-Pharmacological treatment

??-Sedation practices

??-Non-pharmacological treatment

??-Knowledge

B

What are the influencing factors (barriers and facilitators) for the implementation of the Dutch ICU delirium guideline by intensivists, ICU nurses, and psychiatrists?

Survey on knowledge, attitudes and perceptions, and structured focus group interviews

Health care professionals: intensivists, residents, ICU nurses, managers and psychiatrists, geriatrist or neurologist

Barriers and facilitators classified as related to: 1) guideline; 2) provider characteristics (e.g. knowledge and attitudes); 3) institutional characteristics (e.g. organization, structure, resources); 4) implementation (e.g. how and to what extent the guideline is implemented); 5) patient characteristics; and 6) social context (e.g. ICU culture).

C

What is the content of a tailored strategy to improve the adherence to the delirium guideline?

Strategy development according to implementation frameworks by Grol and Wensing, and Cabana

Matching the data from the current practice, questionnaires and focus groups and questionnaires to construct effective implementation strategies from the literature

Tailored multifaceted implementation strategy to effectively implement current guideline based delirium management

D

What is the effect of the tailored implementation strategy on guideline adherence, knowledge of health care providers, delirium incidence, clinical outcomes (mortality, length of stay) and health care costs?

Prospective before-after study

Data from 6 ICUs

(Process) indicators e.g.:

-Adherence delirium screening

-Incidence of delirium

-Pharmacological treatment

-Non-pharmacological treatment

-Knowledge

Outcomes e.g.:

-Length of stay

-Hospital mortality

Costs

D

Explore potential explanations for why the intervention was effective or not based on ICU and health care providers' characteristics indicative of local ‘culture’.

Process evaluation: qualitative (outcomes,) and quantitative data (survey and interviews)

Data from 6 ICUs. Frame work for process evaluation, matching outcomes with actual exposure, and experiences of the implementation strategy

Underlying mechanisms that explain the effects of the study.