Validation of a method for synthesizing public consultations to inform decision-making in health technology assessment (HTA) in Brazil: a Delphi consensus.

BACKGROUND: Public consultations (PCs) are a form of public engagement used to inform decision-making on the incorporation of new technologies into health systems. Although widely employed by health technology assessment (HTA) agencies, there is no consensus on the best methods for analyzing and synthesizing PCs. This study proposes a novel method for analyzing and synthesizing PCs, using elements of content analysis, Interface de R pour les Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires (IRaMuTeQ) software, and guiding questions specific to HTA. The goal is to offer a streamlined, systematic and transparent approach that ensures reproducible and reliable analyses. The aim of this study is to validate the proposed method for analyzing PCs in HTA through face and content validity. METHODS: The Delphi technique was applied to validate the method. A group of 20 Brazilian experts with experience in HTA, social participation, IRaMuTeQ, or qualitative research, was invited to participate. Consensus was defined as 70% "agree" or "strongly agree" responses or an interquartile range ≤ 1. Comments were summarized and categorized by theme. A pilot study was conducted before the Delphi panel. RESULTS: Fifteen experts participated in the face validity, and 14 in the content validity. Both validations achieved over 80% consensus in the first round. The face validity confirmed five methodological steps, including corpus analysis, corpus preparation and organization, data mining using IRaMuTeQ software, systematization, interpretation, and synthesis of the findings. The content validity results were deemed adequate, confirming the method provided sufficient information to understand PCs. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for the validation of a method for the analysis and systematization of PCs. By incorporating key HTA characteristics, such as systematic and transparent processes, while still preserving the qualitative aspects of the data, the method can help make HTA more participatory, streamlined, and transparent, processes that include societal perspectives. The validated method is an initial strategy for systematizing PC analyses within HTA.