Thirdly, we will investigate the treatment preferences and expectations of both the participants and physiotherapists participating in the study, and explore the effect of these on clinical outcome.
All participants gave their informed consent before participating in the study and their anonymity, privacy and confidentiality was respected.
All study participants provided written, informed consent before participating in the study and were interviewed in person by trained medical professionals using a structured questionnaire.
Participants provided written informed consent prior to participating in the study, and procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany.
As referrals were analyzed per cluster, referrals of both physicians participating in the study and those of non-participating physicians were collected.
The study may, moreover, present a selection bias due to differences between the characteristics of the children/adolescents participating in the study and those of the non-participants.
The preparation and blinding of syringes was made by a researcher not participating in the study and the syringes were marked with the participants study number.
All physician participants worked in one of the study sites, expressed interest in participating in the study, and provided informed consent; no exclusion criteria were applied.
Participants were also informed that no module credit will be given for participating in the study and their responses do not affect their assessment grades.
The study was approved by the Ethics Committees of each of the hospitals participating in the study and written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Written consent for participating in the study and undergoing HIV testing was obtained from each participant prior to the survey interview.
