Table 1 A chronology of guidance and evidence illustrating the evolving feasibility and pilot study landscape from our perspective
From: Pilot and feasibility studies: extending the conceptual framework
Time frame | Date and author | Key points |
|---|---|---|
Pre 2008 | 2004 Lancaster [4] | Seminal publication: No formal guidance on what constitutes a pilot study; recommendations made for good practice. Editors reluctant to publish. |
2008-15 | 2008 MRC Guidance [8] | No absolute definition for pilot or feasibility studies but emphasised the need to conduct pilot and feasibility work to identify and address problems that might occur in subsequent RCTs |
2010 Thabane [5] | Demonstrated inconsistent and synonymous use of terms pilot and feasibility | |
2010 NIHR [7] | Stated that the terms feasibility and pilot were mutually exclusive | |
2010 Arain [6] | Demonstrated that in the literature studies described as feasibility or pilot had different characteristics. Editors ‘loathe to publish studies described as 'pilot”. | |
2011 | Workshop on pilot studies, led by Sandra Eldridge (SE), Gillian Lancaster (GL), Mike Campbell (MC) and Sally Kerry, and attended by Christine Bond (CB), held at Annual Scientific meeting of the Society of Academic Primary Care in Bristol [10]. Outcome of the workshop was a decision to develop a CONSORT extension for pilot and feasibility studies. | |
2012 | The Pilot and Feasibility Studies (PAFS) group was formed by SE, CB, GL, MC with Sally Hopewell (SH), Lehana Thabane (LT) and Claire Chan (CC) invited to join the group to develop the reporting checklist using a consensus approach [10]. | |
2015 NIHR glossary [11] | Modified wording of descriptions for mutually exclusive pilot and feasibility studies | |
Pilot and feasibility studies journal official launch (2015) [12] | BMC launched Pilot and Feasibility Studies journal with Gill Lancaster as Editor in Chief in 2014. The rapid growth of the journal led to Lehana Thabane joining as co Editor in Chief in 2017 | |
2016 to date | 2016 Eldridge [1] | PAFS group suggests that feasibility is the overarching concept. All studies addressing feasibility can be classified as feasibility studies but only a subset are pilot studies |
CONSORT extension for pilot and feasibility studies published in BMJ and Pilot and Feasibility Studies | ||
March 2018 GuEST consensus workshop [15] | SE, CB, GL invited to MRC GuEST Consensus Workshop on exploratory studies | |
May 2019 Internal pilot workshop [16] | Growing interest in internal pilot studies. SE, CB, SH, GL and MC invited to attend MRC Hubs for Trials Methodology workshop to discuss internal pilot studies. |