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Adding to a growing body of research into trials methodology across the School, a team of researchers from the University of Bristol will begin work on a new systematic review to map current methods for evaluating implementation fidelity in primary care trials, as well as the evidence for these methods.

The primary goal of implementation fidelity is to increase scientific confidence that changes in targeted outcomes are due to the intervention under investigation and thereby the avoidance of Type III errors. The primary care setting is vulnerable to such errors due to a tendency towards cluster randomised trials and complex interventions where multiple providers are often co-opted into studies and implementation fidelity is under-evaluated. The aim of the review is to synthesise the evidence for the different methods currently in use. "We will do this in collaboration with a fidelity working group made up from patients, staff, and study PIs from primary care clinical trials." says PI Rebecca Barnes. "If you are a PI or trial researcher with experience of assessing fidelity in the context of primary care, and are happy to share your experiences, please do get in touch. We hope the findings will inform best practice for the evaluation of implementation fidelity in the design and delivery of future primary care trials."

The review team from the Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC) are Dr Rebecca Barnes (PI), Dr Alyson Huntley, Dr Alison Heawood, Dr Athene Lane, Ms Cindy Mann and Dr Catherine Jameson.

Contact: Rebecca.Barnes@bristol.ac.uk or Catherine.Jameson@bristol.ac.uk