UCSF

Participation in clinical research trials has been hypothesized to facilitate the adoption of evidence-based practices by community-based substance abuse treatment providers. However, little empirical information is available regarding the methodological and collaborative characteristics of research trials that may affect the chances of adoption. The current paper describes the development of the Survey of Practiced Research Efforts to Aid Dissemination (SPREAD), a standardized instrument designed to measure characteristics of clinical trials that may facilitate adoption. The survey was administered to a sample of 33 community-based research trials from the top four impact factor journals of 2007. Overall, methodological quality was high and levels of collaboration were low, with little involvement of community-based clinic staff in most study related activities. Future research to determine the predictive validity of the SPREAD instrument on post-trial adoption of studies interventions in clinical research is encouraged. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.