Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 26, 2026

E-Patient Counseling Trial E-PACO: Computer Based Education versus Nurse Counseling for Patients to Prepare for Colonoscopy
Published on: August 1, 2019
Do randomized controlled nursing trials have a pragmatic or explanatory attitude? Findings from the
Alvisa Palese1, Maria Grazia Bevilacqua, Angelo Dante
11MNS, RN, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Udine University, Italy 2BNS, RN, School of Nursing, Udine University, Italy 3PhD, RN, Professor in Charge, School of Nursing, Trieste University, Italy.
Background:
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) may be categorized as either effectiveness trials or efficacy trials, which may be categorized by the Pragmatic-Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary (PRECIS) tool. However, no data regarding the application of the PRECIS tool in a cluster of RCTs belonging to a specific discipline such as nursing are available.
Purpose:
The principal aim of this study was to assess the prevailing nature (pragmatic vs. explanatory) of a cluster of clinical nursing RCTs. Evaluating the suitability of the PRECIS in the analysis of nursing RCTs was the secondary aim.
Methods:
All nursing RCTs published in 2010 were identified through a systematic review and extracted in full-text form. An explanatory-pragmatic (E-P) group consisting of 11 researchers trained in the use of the PRECIS tool evaluated each RCT in terms of 10 domains, respectively scored on a scale ranging from 5 (pragmatic) to 1 (explanatory). The E-P group further scored the feasibility of the PRECIS tool using a numerical rating scale (0 = not at all, 10 = entirely feasible).
Results:
Along the pragmatic-explanatory continuum, assuming 50 as the highest degree of pragmatism and 10 as the highest degree of explanatory, the evaluation of nursing RCTs returned an average of 31.1 (median = 31, SD = 7.18, range = 13-44). On the pragmatic-explanatory continuum, the evaluated nursing RCTs tended to be pragmatic, which seems to be consistent with the purposes of the nursing discipline. The feasibility of the PRECIS tool in the evaluation of nursing trials as perceived by the E-P Group was, on average, 7.09 (SD = 1.09, 95% CI [6.35, 7.82]).
Conclusions/Implications For Practice:
Applying the PRECIS tool is perceived to be highly feasible in the critical appraisal of a cluster of RCTs in a specific discipline such as nursing.
Related Concept Videos
Nursing Evaluation
Randomized Experiments
Simple randomization
Simple...
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Nursing Interventions II: Selecting and Classifying the Nursing Interventions
Blinding
Patient-centered Care
