Table 1 Evaluation interview guide questions

Evaluation interview questions

 1. Tell me about your experience

 • Why did you choose to participate in the (Activity) (e.g., why did you say yes, why did you follow-through with participation)?

 • What did you understand the purpose of the (Activity) to be?

 • To what extent did you interact with other participants in the (Activity)?

 2. How could we improve (Activity) for others (e.g., clarity/readability of instructions, estimates of time spent, actual time commitment, technical support, communication with coordinators, etc.)?

 3. Prior to this activity you completed a survey mailed to you that asked you to rank individual low back pain research topics. Do you recall completing the survey?

 • If no, skip

 • If yes, how would you compare the (Activity) to the first survey (e.g., ease of participating, understanding of what we were asking for, etc.)

 4. In this project, we are trying to determine how patients can inform in the initial stages of medical research (i.e., identifying research topics and research priorities).

 • How do you think researchers could do a better job of engaging patients in the initial stages of medical research?

 • What are other ways in which patients could contribute to medical research, beyond involvement as research study participants?

 • What role do you think patients should play in setting research priorities?

 • What effect do you think patients could have in being involved at this stage of the research process?

 5. Do you have any other thoughts or comments you would like to share?