Table 1.

Definition of EPOC subcategories utilised in the review

EPOC subcategory	Definition
Educational materials	Distribution to individuals, or groups, of educational materials to support clinical care, i.e. any intervention in which knowledge is distributed. For example, this may be facilitated by the internet, learning critical appraisal skills; skills for electronic retrieval of information, diagnostic formulation; question formulation
Educational meetings	Courses, workshops, conferences or other educational meetings
Educational outreach visits or academic detailing	Personal visits by a trained person to health workers in their own settings, to provide information with the aim of changing practice
Small incentives or grants	Transfer of money or material goods to healthcare providers conditional on taking a measurable action or achieving a predetermined performance target, for example incentives for lay health workers
Audit and feedback	A summary of health workers’ performance over a specified period of time, given to them in a written, electronic or verbal format; the summary may include recommendations for clinical action
Opinion leaders	The identification and use of identifiable local opinion leaders to promote good clinical practice