Without a complete published description of interventions, clinicians and patients
cannot reliably implement interventions that are shown to be useful, and other researchers
cannot replicate or build on research findings. The quality of description of interventions
in publications, however, is remarkably poor. To improve the completeness of reporting,
and ultimately the replicability, of interventions, an international group of experts
and stakeholders developed the Template for Intervention Description and Replication
(TIDieR) checklist and guide. The process involved a literature review for relevant
checklists and research, a Delphi survey of an international panel of experts to guide
item selection, and a face to face panel meeting. The resultant 12 item TIDieR checklist
(brief name, why, what (materials), what (procedure), who provided, how, where, when
and how much, tailoring, modifications, how well (planned), how well (actual)) is
an extension of the CONSORT 2010 statement (item 5) and the SPIRIT 2013 statement
(item 11). While the emphasis of the checklist is on trials, the guidance is intended
to apply across all evaluative study designs. This paper presents the TIDieR checklist
and guide, with an explanation and elaboration for each item, and examples of good
reporting. The TIDieR checklist and guide should improve the reporting of interventions
and make it easier for authors to structure accounts of their interventions, reviewers
and editors to assess the descriptions, and readers to use the information.