Developing and evaluating complex interventions: updating medical Research Council guidance to take account of new methodological and theoretical approaches

Skivington, Kathryn; Matthews, Lynsay; Craig, Peter; Simpson, Sharon; Moore, Laurence

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)32865-4

Cited by 138Health Policy Implementation ScienceEvaluation and Performance AssessmentAdvanced Causal Inference Techniques

Developing and evaluating complex interventions: updating medical Research Council guidance to take account of new methodological and theoretical approaches

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Skivington, Kathryn, Matthews, Lynsay, Craig, Peter, Simpson, Sharon, Moore, Laurence·2018·The Lancet

DOI 10.1016/s0140-6736(18)32865-4

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An explicit focus on implementation and economic aspects early during treatment development has been recommended.
“An explicit focus on implementation and economic aspects early during treatment development has been recommended.44 45”
From Development, evaluation and implementation of a digital behavioural health treatment for chronic pain: study protocol of the multiphase DAHLIA project (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
The DAHLIA approach is in line with the widely used MRC/NIHR framework by considering contextual and economical aspects, building on theory, involving stakeholders, and refining the intervention.
“The DAHLIA approach is also in line with the widely used MRC/NIHR framework by considering contextual and economical aspects, building on theory, involving stakeholders, and refining the intervention.26 45”
From Development, evaluation and implementation of a digital behavioural health treatment for chronic pain: study protocol of the multiphase DAHLIA project (2022) · cites this paper as [45]

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Influential
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BackgroundMethod
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“However, in the case of complex interventions [27] such as telemedicine [28], the “active components” can be difficult to define, and it might not be entirely clear what changes can be expected or how change will be achieved [29].”
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A new framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions: update of Medical Research Council guidance
Skivington, K., Matthews, L., Simpson, S. A., Craig, P., Baird, J., Blazeby, J. M., Boyd, K. A., Craig, N., French, D. P., McIntosh, E., et al. (2021) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.n2061 · Cited by 5,808 · see citing works
Self-citation
www.mrc.ac.uk/complexinterventionsguidance Developing and evaluating complex interventions: new guidance Contents
(2011)
Developing and evaluating complex interventions: the new Medical Research Council guidance
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Self-citation
Updating the Medical Research Council guidance on complex interventions: an outline proposal for developing an integrated body of guidance
Skivington, K., Matthews, L., Simpson, S. A., Craig, P., Baird, J., Blazeby, J. M., Boyd, K., Craig, N. J., French, D., McIntosh, E., et al. (2021)
Self-citation
Developing and evaluating complex interventions: Reflections on the 2008 MRC guidance
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Self-citation

Authors: Skivington, K., Matthews, L., Craig, P., Simpson, S., & Moore, L.
Affiliations: University of Glasgow (GB)
Corresponding author: Skivington, Kathryn
ORCID: Skivington, Kathryn
Matthews, Lynsay
Craig, Peter
Simpson, Sharon
Moore, Laurence
Venue: The Lancet
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2018-11
Volume: 392
Pages: S2
ISSN: 0099-5355 (ISSN-L)
0140-6736
DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(18)32865-4
OpenAlex: W2900704124
Cited by: 137
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 68 · 2019: 8
FWCI: 37.19
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
eprints.gla.ac.uk
Licence: cc-by-sa
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations: The Lancet (publishedVersion)
ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders: MRC Strategic Award (MC_PC_13027)
CSO programme grants (MC_UU_12017/14, SPHSU14, MC_UU_12017/15, SPHSU15)
Topics: Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Evaluation and Performance Assessment
Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Advanced Causal Inference Techniques
Keywords: complex interventions, complex systems science, program theory, natural experiment, research prioritization, intervention development

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