Abstract
BACKGROUND: Evaluation publications typically summarize the results of studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of an intervention, but little is shared concerning any changes implemented during the study. We present a process evaluation protocol of a home-based gait, balance, and resistance exercise intervention to ameliorate persistent taxane-induced neuropathy study according to 7 key elements of process evaluation. METHODS: The process evaluation is conducted parallel to the longitudinal, randomized control clinical trial examining the effects of the home-based gait, balance, and resistance exercise program for women with persistent peripheral neuropathy following treatment with taxanes for breast cancer (IRB approval: Pro00040035). The flowcharts clarify how the intervention should be implemented in comparable settings, fidelity procedures help to ensure the participants are comfortable and identify their individual needs, and the process evaluation allows for the individual attention tailoring and focus of the research to avoid protocol deviation. CONCLUSIONS: The publication of the evaluation protocol plan adds transparency to the findings of clinical trials and favors process replication in future studies. The process evaluation enables the team to systematically register information and procedures applied during recruitment and factors that impact the implementation of the intervention, thereby allowing proactive approaches to prevent deviations from the protocol. When tracking an intervention continuously, positive or negative intervention effects are revealed early on in the study, giving valuable insight into inconsistent results. Furthermore, a process evaluation adds a participant-centered element to the research protocols, which allows a patient-centered approach to be applied to data collection. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04621721, November 9, 2020, registered prospectively. PROTOCOL VERSION: April 27, 2020, v2.