The Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR; http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/tidier/) checklist is a tool designed to improve the reporting of interventions in randomised controlled trials that has been promoted widely in physiotherapy. Until now, TIDieR items have been reported individually. A recent study has examined whether it is reasonable to calculate a summary score from the TIDieR checklist. TIDieR summary scores (range 0-24) were calculated for 200 reports of physiotherapy trials published in 2013 and randomly selected from PEDro. Rasch analysis was used to investigate the item hierarchy, category function and reliability of the TIDieR checklist and determine the extent to which the summary score can be considered an interval-level measure. The data fit the Rasch model suggesting the summary score is able to assess the completeness of reporting. The items appeared to target the study sample well (average report measure was 0.48 (0.87) compared to the average item measure of 0.0 (1.82)), and progressed in a logical manner, suggesting the summary score can be used as a single variable. The low internal consistency (0.62) suggests the summary score may only be able to discriminate between the least and most detailed reports. These results support use of the TIDieR summary score, but replication in an independent data set is required.

Yamato TP et al. Rasch analysis suggested that items from the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist can be summed to create a score. J Clin Epidemiol 2018;101:28-34