Appendix A1. COREQ 32.
-Item Checklist
| Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies (COREQ): 32-item checklist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of item | Topic | Guide questions/Description | Description | Page No. |
| Domain 1: research team and reflexivity | ||||
| Personal characteristics | ||||
| 1 | Interview/facilitator | Which author/s conducted the interview or focus group? | The interviews were conducted by trained qualitative research assistants, supervised by author David Bekelman | 5 |
| 2 | Credentials | What were the researcher's credentials? e.g., PhD, MD | MD, MPH. | 5 |
| 3 | Occupation | What was their occupation at the time of the study? | Associate Professor of Medicine. Clinical Researcher. | |
| 4 | Gender | Was the researcher male or female? | Dr. Bekelman is male, the qualitative research assistant is female. | |
| 5 | Experience and training | What experience or training did the researcher have? | Dr. Bekelman has conducted a number of qualitative studies, including obtaining funding, conducting the research, and publishing results. | |
| Relationship with participants | ||||
| 6 | Relationship established | Was a relationship established before study commencement? | No | |
| 7 | Participant knowledge of interviewer | What did the participants know about the researcher? e.g., personal goals, reasons for doing the research | Objectives of interview clearly articulated in recruitment and informed consent process. | 3 |
| 8 | Interviewer characteristics | What characteristics were reported about the inter viewer/facilitator? e.g., Bias, assumptions, reasons, and interests in the research topic | The interviewer explained her background to participants as a qualitative research assistant. She said that while she worked with many people with chronic illnesses, she was interested in hearing each participant's unique perspective. During team analysis, the study team acknowledged their biases around hoping for a positive outcome from the CASA intervention. At the same time, the study team wanted to know from participants how to improve the CASA intervention. | |
| Domain 2: study design | ||||
| Theoretical framework | ||||
| 9 | Methodological orientation and theory | What methodological orientation was stated to underpin the study? | Descriptive qualitative. | 3 |
| 10 | Sampling | How were participants selected? e.g., purposive, convenience, consecutive, snowball | All CASA intervention participants were invited to participate. | 4 |
| 11 | Method of approach | How were participants approached? e.g., face-to-face, telephone, mail, e-mail | Telephone. | 4 |
| 12 | Sample size | How many participants were in the study? | 45 of the 124 intervention participants completed an interview. | 4 |
| 13 | Nonparticipation | How many people refused to participate or dropped out? Reasons? | Once participants agreed to the interview, none dropped out. | |
| Setting | ||||
| 14 | Setting of data collection | Where was the data collected? e.g., home, clinic, workplace | Phone | 4 |
| 15 | Presence of nonparticipants | Was anyone else present besides the participants and researchers? | Only interviewer and participant were present | 4 |
| 16 | Description of sample | What are the important characteristics of the sample? e.g., demographic data, date | Patients with advanced heart failure and depressive symptoms. Characteristics reported in Table 1. | Table 1 |
| Data collection | ||||
| 17 | Interview guide | Were questions, prompts, guides provided by the authors? Was it pilot tested? | Semi-structured, open-ended Developed and reviewed by research team for the CASA pilot study.A1 The study team included a nurse, qualitative methodologist, social worker, and palliative care physician researcher. Revised based on use during the CASA pilot study. |
Appendix |
| 18 | Repeat interviews | Were repeat interviews carried out? If yes, how many? | No | |
| 19 | Audio/visual recording | Did the research use audio or visual recording to collect the data? | Audio recorded. | 4 |
| 20 | Field notes | Were field notes made during and/or after the interview or focus group? | No | |
| 21 | Duration | What was the duration of the inter views or focus group? | The interviews were generally 20–30 minutes. | 4 |
| 22 | Data saturation | Was data saturation discussed? | Saturation discussed. | 5 |
| 23 | Transcripts returned | Were transcripts returned to participants for comment | No | |
| Domain 3: analysis and findings | ||||
| Data analysis | ||||
| 24 | No. of data coders | How many data coders coded the data? | Two (double coded) | 5 |
| 25 | Description of coding tree | Did authors provide a description of the coding tree? | Coding process and rationale provided | 5 |
| 26 | Derivation of themes | Were themes identified in advance or derived from the data? | Codebook established after independently coding transcripts. Reach thematic saturation through iterative approach. |
5 |
| 27 | Software | Qualitative software used? | Atlas.Ti | 5 |
| 28 | Participant Checking | Did participants provide feedback on the findings? | No | |
| Reporting | ||||
| 29 | Quotations presented | Were participant quotations presented to illustrate the themes/findings? Was each quotation identified? e.g., participant number | Diverse illustration of quote from participants | Table 2 |
| 30 | Data and findings consistent | Was there consistency between the data presented and the findings? | Triangulation, iterative review process, consensus reaching activities | 5 |
| 31 | Clarity of major themes | Were major themes clearly presented in the findings? | (1) Cared for my psychosocial needs, (2) Encouraged Self-management, (3) Medication recommendations worked, (4) Facilitated goal attainment, (5) team was beneficial, and (6) Good visit timing | Table 2 |
| 32 | Clarity of minor themes | Is there a description of diverse cases or discussion of minor themes? | Discuss patterns of disagreement across positive and negative statements and recommendations for intervention improvement. | 5 |
CASA, Collaborative Care to Alleviate Symptoms and Adjust to Illness.