RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Reducing patient delay with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome: a research protocol for a systematic review of previous interventions to investigate which behaviour change techniques are associated with effective interventions JF Open Heart JO Open Heart FD British Cardiovascular Society SP e000079 DO 10.1136/openhrt-2014-000079 VO 1 IS 1 A1 Barbara Farquharson A1 Stephan Dombrowski A1 Alex Pollock A1 Marie Johnston A1 Shaun Treweek A1 Brian Williams A1 Karen Smith A1 Nadine Dougall A1 Claire Jones A1 Stuart Pringle YR 2014 UL http://openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000079.abstract AB Introduction Delay to presentation with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is common meaning many fail to achieve optimal benefit from treatments. Interventions have had variable success in reducing delay. Evidence suggests inclusion of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) may improve effectiveness of interventions but this has not yet been systematically evaluated. Data from other time-critical conditions may be relevant. Methods and analysis A systematic review will be undertaken to identify which BCTs are associated with effective interventions to reduce patient delay (or prompt rapid help-seeking) among people with time-critical conditions (eg, chest pain, ACS, lumps, stroke, cancer and meningitis). A systematic search of a wide range of databases (including Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycInfo) and grey literature will be undertaken to identify all relevant intervention studies (randomised controlled trials, controlled clinical trials and cohort studies). Two independent reviewers will screen abstracts to identify relevant studies, apply inclusion criteria to full papers, assess methodological quality and extract data. Primary outcome measure Change in patient decision time BCTs reported in each of the included studies will be categorised and presented according to the latest reliable taxonomy. Results of included studies will be synthesised, exploring relationships between inclusion of each BCT and effectiveness of the overall intervention. Where possible, means and SDs for differences in delay time will be calculated and combined within meta-analyses to derive a standardised mean difference and 95% CI. Analysis of (1) all time-critical and (2) ACS-only interventions will be undertaken. Ethics and dissemination No ethical issues are anticipated. Results will be submitted for publication in a relevant peer-reviewed journal.