Table 2.
SPR standards for effectiveness
| Number | Standards |
|---|---|
| 1. | To claim effectiveness, studies must meet all of the conditions of efficacy trials plus the following standards. |
| Intervention description | |
| 2. | Manuals and, as appropriate, training and technical support must be readily available |
| Generalizability | |
| 3.a. | The degree to which findings are generalizable should be evaluated. |
| 3.b. | The target population and setting as well as the method for sampling both populations and settings should be explained in order to make it as clear as possible how closely the sample represents the specified populations and settings that define the broad target for future dissemination [Reporting Standard]. |
| 3.c. | The sample should contain a sufficient number of cases from each of the dimensions across which intervention effects are to be generalized to assess intervention effects in each subgroup. |
| Population subgroups | |
| 4. | Statistical analysis of subgroup effects must be conducted for each important subgroup to which intervention effects are generalized. |
| D | Statistical analyses testing group differences in the causal mechanisms should be provided if such differences have been proposed in the theory of the intervention. |
| Intervention tested | |
| 5.a. | The intervention should be delivered under the same types of conditions as one would expect in the community institutions where such interventions are most likely to be situated during scale-up. |
| 5.b. | It is essential to compare the fidelity and quality of implementation/delivery of the core components of the intervention to that achieved in efficacy trials. |
| 5.c. | The recruitment, acceptance, compliance, adherence, and/or involvement of the target audience and subgroups of interest in the core intervention activities should be measured and reported. |
| 5.d. | Local adaptations to core components should be measured and reported. |
| 5.e. | Factors related to the quality of implementation should be measured and reported. |
| 5.f. | Convincing evidence that effects are not biased by investigator allegiance should be provided. |
| D | In at least one effectiveness trial demonstrating desired outcomes, a researcher who is neither a current nor past member of the program developer’s team should conduct data collection and analysis. |
| Outcomes measured | |
| 6.a. | The effects of an intervention must be practically important. Evaluation reports should report evidence of practical importance. |
| 6.b. | Cost-effectiveness information should be reported. |
| D | Report cost-benefit information. |
| Effectiveness claims | |
| 7. | Effectiveness can be claimed only for intervention conditions, populations, times, settings, and outcome constructs for which the average effect across all effectiveness studies is positive and for which no reliable iatrogenic effect on an important outcome has been observed. |
| Research to inform scale-up efforts | |
| D | Investigate the context, systems, and other factors that influence intervention adoption, quality implementation, and sustainability of the EBI. |
Note: Desirable standards are shown in italics and denoted as “D” in the Number column. Bold indicates that the standard has been taken with little or no modification from Flay et al. (2005)