Formulating questions to explore complex interventions within qualitative evidence synthesis.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• Guideline development for complex interventions must address sociocultural acceptability and feasibility.
• Qualitative evidence synthesis is a key method for exploring these contextual factors.
• Existing question formulation frameworks may not adequately capture the nuances required for complex interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate current question formulation frameworks for their suitability in qualitative evidence synthesis for complex interventions.
• To propose an innovative framework that addresses identified limitations in existing methods.

Main Methods:

• A rapid review of 38 question formulation frameworks was conducted.
• Frameworks were assessed against criteria including recognition of context, stakeholder perspectives, time/place, and sensitivity to qualitative data.
• A new framework, PerSPEcTiF, was developed and retrospectively applied to a World Health Organization (WHO) guideline.

Main Results:

• No existing question formulation framework met all essential criteria for qualitative evidence synthesis.
• The proposed PerSPEcTiF framework was designed to incorporate context, diverse stakeholder views, temporality, and qualitative data elicitation.
• Retrospective application to a WHO guideline demonstrated the potential utility of the PerSPEcTiF framework.

Conclusions:

• Current question formulation frameworks are insufficient for comprehensive qualitative evidence synthesis in complex intervention development.
• The novel PerSPEcTiF framework offers a more robust approach to formulating questions for this purpose.
• Further validation and testing of the PerSPEcTiF framework are recommended.