Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: A Pragmatic Cluster Randomised Trial of a Tailored Intervention for Implementing Recommendations for Managing Depressed Elderly Patients in Primary Care: Protocol
Brief Summary: Background The prevalence of depression is high and the elderly have an increased risk of developing a chronic course. International data suggest that depression in the elderly is under-recognised, the latency before clinicians provide a treatment plan is longer, and elderly patients with depression are not offered psychotherapy to the same degree as younger patients. Although recommendations for the treatment of elderly patients with depression exist, health care professionals adhere to these recommendations to a limited degree only. Investigators conducted a systematic review to identify recommendations for managing depression in the elderly and prioritised six recommendations. Investigators identified and prioritised determinants of practice related to implementation of these recommendations in primary care, and subsequently discussed and prioritised interventions to address the identified determinants. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of these tailored implementation interventions to implement six recommendations for the management of elderly patients with depression in primary care.

Methods/design Investigators will conduct a pragmatic cluster randomised trial comparing implementation of the six recommendations using tailored interventions with usual care. Investigators will randomize 80 municipalities into one of two groups: an intervention group, to which investigators will deliver tailored interventions to implement the six recommendations, and a control group, to which investigators will not deliver any intervention. Investigators will randomise municipalities rather than patients, individual clinicians or practices because we will deliver the intervention for the first three recommendations at the municipal level and investigators want to minimise the risk of contamination across practices for the other three recommendations. The primary outcome is the proportion of general practitioners' behaviours which are consistent with the recommendations.

Discussion This trial will investigate whether a tailored implementation approach is an effective strategy to improve collaborative care in the municipalities and health care professionals' practice towards elderly patients with depression in primary care. The effectiveness evaluation described in this protocol will be accompanied with a process evaluation exploring why and how the interventions were effective or ineffective.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* Occupational therapists employed by the Western Cape Department of Health (DOH)
* Working at least 20 hours per week

Exclusion Criteria:

* Working at a distance of more than 1½ hours from Cape Town
* Therapists who would be leaving the DOH before December 2008 or taking leave during the time of the intervention
B: Inclusion Criteria:

* pediatric practice with at least 2 physicians

Exclusion Criteria:

* no electronic billing system
C: Inclusion Criteria:

Home-dwelling patients aged 65 or higher, who have a diagnosis of depression, according to International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients will be excluded if they have a diagnosis of dementia, bipolar disorder or reside in nursing homes or is assessed by their practitioner to have low life expectancy.
D: Inclusion Criteria for Hospitals

Hospitals were invited to participate in the study if they fulfill the following criteria:

* have an Institutional Review Board (IRB), or existing committee which could serve as such, or have an agreement with an IRB which reviews the research protocols implemented in the hospital;
* have at least 500 vaginal deliveries per year;
* do not have an explicit policy for selective episiotomy and for active management of third stage of labor;
* are located within the study area in Argentina and Uruguay; and
* agree to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria for Hospitals

Preselected hospitals are performing baseline data collection. According to the results of the analysis of the baseline data collection, hospitals will be excluded if the episiotomy rate is low or the rate of active management of the third stage of labor is high, according to the following cut-off points:

* Episiotomy rate in spontaneous vaginal deliveries below 20%
* Rate of active management of third stage of labor over 25%

The sample size of the study was increased to allow for exclusions.

Expectant management is defined as "a hands-free policy" during third stage of labor until the placenta is expelled: no use of uterotonics or special maneuvers.

Sampling, Recruitment, and Screening Procedures

Latin American Center for Perinatology (CLAP) coordination team will be responsible for the hospital selection. The hospitals' fulfillment of selection criteria will be obtained through a survey of the Heads of the Obstetrical Departments.

Besides the selection criteria, the coordination unit will invite the hospitals to participate according to:

* their participation in previous trials coordinated by CLAP,
* their participation in other trials or research activities, and
* their location.

Of particular interest are the characteristics of each preselected hospital regarding the structure of the professional staff, number of deliveries, and clinical guidelines policy.

Answer: C