Table 4.

Summary table of study and intervention characteristics associated with effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing patient delay

Study details	Total (N)	Significant reduction in patient delay	No significant reduction in patient delay
Study design
RCTs/Cluster RCT	7	2	5
Controlled before and after	3	2	1
Uncontrolled before and after/ITS	26	15	11
Post-test only	2	1	1
Case–control study	1	0	0
Theoretical underpinning
Yes	8	2	6
No	31	18	13
Intervention mode of delivery
Population-level, mass media	30	17	13
Individual-level, face-to-face	4	1	3
Individual-level, direct mailing	3	2	1
Both, mass media + direct mailing	2	0	2
Intervention intensity
Campaigns ≤12 months	15	8	7
Campaigns >12 months	8	4	4
Population
Confirmed diagnosis	15	8	7
Suspected diagnosis	24	12	12
Year of publication
In/before 2000	18	10	8
After 2000	21	10	11
Measurement of delay
Symptom onset to hospital arrival	24	12	12
Symptom onset to first seeking help	5	1	4
Both	5	4	1
Not reported	5	3	2
Clinical context
ACS	5	3	2
MI	16	8	8
Stroke	15	9	6
Breast cancer	2	0	2
Chest pain	1	0	1
Overall study quality based on total score
Randomised studies (total quality score range 6–18; good–poor quality)
Scored 6–9	5	2	3
Scored 10–14	2	0	2
Scored 15–18	0	0	0
Non-randomised studies (total quality score range 4–12; good–poor quality)
Scored 4–5	1	0	1
Scored 6–8	20	13	7
Scored 9–12	11	5	6

ACS, acute coronary syndrome; ITS, interrupted time series; MI, myocardial infarction; RCTs, randomised controlled trials.