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. 2021 Oct 12;2021(10):CD011589. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011589.pub2

Whooley 2000.

Study characteristics
Methods Randomised trial, USA
Participants 13 primary care medical clinics (7 intervention, 6 control).
Interventions Feedback of Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)
 
Intervention features
Single simple feedback (one PROM at a single time) 
PROM(s) used as intervention: Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS‐15)
Constructs measured: Symptoms
Instrument categories/domains: Domain/Disease specific (geriatric mental health)
 
Administration features
Where PROMs administered: Clinical setting (e.g. waiting room, office, etc) 
How administered: Interviewer‐administered
Format of PROMs questionnaire(s): Paper
 
Feedback features
Format of PROMs feedback: Paper
How often information fed back: Once
Who information fed back to: Clinicians
Information fed back: Scores, Previous scores, Interpretation guidance, Management recommendations
 
Outcomes Main outcomes: patient‐reported GDS outcomes, physician diagnosis of depression, antidepressant use, prevalence of depression
Notes The study was supported by the Garfield Memorial Fund (grant). The study recruited between June 1994 and October 1995. Conflicts of interest were not reported. 
 
Risk of bias
Bias Authors' judgement Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias) Low risk Computer‐generated randomisation occurred for practices
Allocation concealment (selection bias) High risk Allocation concealment not possible due to cluster randomisation
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes High risk Due to nature of intervention not possible to blind patients and personnel.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes High risk Due to nature of the intervention blinding of outcomes not possible: PROM used for feedback also used to assess outcome, patients were aware they received the intervention.
Baseline outcome measurements similar Low risk No sig difference in outcome scores between the groups
Baseline characteristics similar Low risk Only significant differences in income and education between the groups
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes Unclear risk No mention of missing data handling
Was study protected against contamination Unclear risk Practices were in different groups
Selective reporting (reporting bias) Unclear risk Unclear whether selective reporting took place