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Table 3 Comparison of “simple” and “complex” interventions

From: Current experience with applying the GRADE approach to public health interventions: an empirical study

 

“Simple” interventions

“Complex” interventions

Population

Sick population seeking care

Healthy general or at-risk population

Intervention

Individual-level intervention

Population- and/or individual-level intervention

Single component

Multiple interacting components

“Reactive” treatment through medication or surgery or clinical prevention

“Proactive” prevention through behaviour change and/or technical intervention and/or policy

Implementation in healthcare setting

Implementation in household, community or policy setting

Comparison

No intervention or alternative intervention through treatment/surgery

“Business as usual” in several sectors

Outcome

Shorter causal pathway

Longer causal pathway

One or a small number of health outcomes

Multiple health outcomes and broader societal consequences

Usually impact after short lag period

Usually impact after long lag period

Delivery of intervention

Delivery through health sector

Delivery through multiple sectors

Contextual effects

Variation between healthcare providers (individuals, institutions)

Variation between providers of different intervention components in multiple sectors

Patient preference and compliance

Large cultural and behavioural variation

  1. “Simple interventions” tend to show more of the characteristics in the left column while “complex” interventions tend to show more of those in the right column.