ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of pancreatic cancer guidelines using evidence-based methods based on the global burden of pancreatic cancer, so as to explore its status, region distribution, characteristics of coverage themes, and difference of therapies recommended by the guidelines of various quality, and to provide references for clinical decisionmaking. MethodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 11, 2013), CBM, CNKI, and VIP, as well as the website of National Guidelines Clearinghouse (NGC), Guidelines International Network (GIN), and National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) were systematically searched for pancreatic cancer treatment guidelines. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE Ⅲ) was applied to assess methodological quality of included guidelines. ResultsA total of 14 relevant guidelines (including five evidence-based guidelines) were included involving seven countries of four continents (Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania) and four international academic organizations. There were only two domains, namely "scope and purpose" and "clarity of presentations" which got high average scores (more than 60%) among all 14 guidelines. The mean AGREE domain scores in guidelines varied with areas, and the quality of five evidence-based guidelines was superior to that established by consensus. According to the outcomes of AGREE Ⅲ, 11 guidelines were weakly recommended, while 3 were not recommended due to poor methodological quality. The subjects of 14 guidelines covered six treatment categories, including chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, support therapy, radiotherapy, and interventional therapy. ConclusionThe overall methodological quality of pancreatic cancer guidelines is not high among different countries or regions. The quality of evidence-based guidelines is superior to that established by consensus. Chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and support therapy were reccommended as predominant choice by these guidelines.
Using the AGREE Ⅱ standard, this paper interpretated from methodological perspective of the Korean Guidelines for Appropriate use of cardiac CT which was made by Korean Society of Radiology and the Korean Society of Cardiology.
ObjectiveTo analyze the current status of children's clinical practice guidelines from 2010 to 2021, and to evaluate the quality of evidence-based guidelines for children. MethodsPubMed, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data, and VIP databases and relevant domestic and foreign guideline websites were searched to collect Chinese pediatric clinical guidelines from January 1st 2010 to September 13th 2021. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data; 4 reviewers used AGREE Ⅱ to evaluate the quality of the included evidence-based guidelines. ResultsA total of 164 guidelines were included, which involved 65 evidence-based guidelines and 99 non-evidence-based guidelines, 113 western medicine guidelines and 51 traditional Chinese medicine guidelines. The majority of the diseases with high hospitalization burden were covered by those guidelines, including 35 guidelines for respiratory diseases, ranking first among all diseases. However, there was no guideline for pediatric cardiovascular disease in China. The average scores for 65 evidence-based guidelines in 6 individual domains were 65.2%, 49.6%, 59.3%, 68.5%, 23.9% and 83.6%. ConclusionsThe scores for applicability, stakeholder involvement, and rigor of development are low for Chinese guideline for children. There is a lack of pediatric clinical guidelines for circulatory disorders.
ObjectivesTo analyze the current methodological and reporting quality of both domestic and overseas clinical practice guidelines on acupuncture, and to provide reference for the development of high quality acupuncture clinical practice guidelines.MethodsGIN, NICE, AHRQ, PubMed, EMbase, AMED, CINAHL, WanFang Data, CNKI, VIP and CBM databases were electronically searched to collect domestic and overseas clinical practice guidelines on acupuncture from inception to September, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and evaluated the methodological and reporting quality by using AGREE Ⅱ and RIGHT tools.ResultsA total of 23 acupuncture clinical practice guidelines were included, in which three were developed by foreign institutions, and the remaining 20 guidelines were jointly developed by WHO Western Pacific Region and China Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Three foreign and two domestic guidelines were selected for evaluation. The AGREE Ⅱ evaluation showed that the domestic guidelines have higher scores in terms of " scope and purpose”, " stakeholder involvement”, " rigor of development”, " applicability” and " clarity of presentation”, while only " editorial independence” is lower. The overall recommendation is stronger than the foreign guidelines. The RIGHT evaluation showed that for three foreign guidelines, the " reported” items accounted for 52.38%, " unreported” items accounted for 38.09%, " partly reported” items accounted for 6.66%%; however, for domestic guidelines, the " reported” accounted for 45.71%, " unreported” items accounted for 40%, and " partly reported” items accounted for 14.28% respectively. Overall, the difference is not significant (SD<10%). Due to the specificity of acupuncture interventions, the use of AGREEⅡ and RIGHT to evaluate acupuncture clinical practice guidelines still had barriers to some extend on its applicability.ConclusionThe methodological and reporting quality of acupuncture clinical practice guidelines are relatively low. It is urgent to further improve the methodological level and reporting standards of the guidelines, and to develop evaluation tools for the acupuncture field guidelines.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the methodological quality of clinical practice guidelines and expert consensus of chronic heart failure domestically and abroad.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, SinoMed, CNKI, WanFang Data, and VIP databases, and related websites were searched to collect guidelines and expert consensus on chronic heart failure published from January 1st, 2011 to December 31st, 2020. Four reviewers evaluated the methodological quality of the guidelines and expert consensus with the AGREE Ⅱ tool after the consistency evaluation training.ResultsA total of 17 studies were included (consisting of 11 English and 6 Chinese studies). The recommended levels were B level (recommend after modification) for 10 studies and C level (not recommended) for 7 studies. The AGREE Ⅱ standardized mean scores for various fields were 69.61% (scope and purpose), 34.20% (stakeholder involvement), 33.13% (rigor of development), 84.53% (clarity and presentation), 42.40% (applicability), and 37.09% (editorial independence). The methodological quality of English guidelines was generally high (level B for 10 and level C for 1), while all scores of Chinese guidelines or consensus in the 6 fields were mostly lower than the average (level C for 6).ConclusionsThe guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic heart failure requires further improvement in terms of stakeholder involvement and rigor of development. It should develop standards and methods to improve the quality for Chinese guidelines and expert consensus to better serve clinical practice.
ObjectiveTo assess the methodological quality of guidelines for bronchoscopic alveolar lavage. MethodsCNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, CBM, Web of Science, PubMed, EMbase databases and medlive.cn, the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC), the National Guideline International Network (GIN), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), and the World Health Organization (WHO) websites were electronically searched to collect guidelines of bronchoscopic alveolar lavage from inception to December 2020. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of the guidelines by using AGREE Ⅱ tool. ResultsA total of 19 guidelines were included, with 5 from China, 5 from the USA, 3 from Europe, 2 from the UK, 1 from Australia, 1 from Israel, 1 from Spain, and 1 from India. The average standard score rates of the 19 guidelines in the six fields were 50.73% for scope and purpose, 20.02% for participants, 15.13% for formulation rigor, 36.40% for clarity of presentation, 3.51% for applicability, and 22.37% for editorial independence.ConclusionsThe quality of bronchoalveolar lavage guidelines remains relatively low.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the quality of guidelines concerning management of helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, so as to improve the guidelines of low quality and promote the clinical practice of high quality guidelines. MethodDatabases including PubMed, CNKI, Guidelines International Network (GIN), National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC), National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and Google search engine were searched from January 2005 to April 2015 to collect guidelines concerning H. pylori management about recent ten years. The methodological quality of included guidelines was evaluated according to the AGREE Ⅱ instrument, and the difference in indications and recommended first-line therapy of H. pylori eradication among different guidelines were compared. ResultsA total of 13 guidelines were included. According to the AGREE Ⅱ instrument, the highest scores were for clarity and presentation 92.6% (78%-100%) and the lowest were for editorial independence 35.7% (0%-92%). The mean scores for rest domains were: scope and purpose 70.2% (39%-100%), stakeholder involvement 41.4% (22%-75%), rigor of development 41.7% (11%-82%), applicability 58.1% (35%-85%). ConclusionThe quality of guidelines for management of H. pylori infection is not high. Great efforts are needed to provide reliable and high quality guidelines, especially for the domains of stakeholder involvement, rigor of development, and editorial independence.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the recommendations for antiretroviral therapy in the AIDS guidelines, and summarize the sources of evidence supporting the recommendations, the quality of the evidence and the strength of the recommendations, and the consistency of the recommendations. MethodsWe systematically searched for articles published before Dec 2024 in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, and 9 guideline databases, websites, integrating recommendations. Quality and reporting practices were evaluated using AGREE Ⅱ and RIGHT tools respectively. ResultsThe average score of AGREE Ⅱ was 62 points, the overall reporting rate was 69.68%, and the quality of methodology and reporting specifications were low. Analysis of the recommendation results showed that a total of 57 recommendations for ART therapy were extracted from 18 guidelines, mainly recommending 2 NRTIs combined with third-category drugs. NRTI drugs are mainly based on TDF+FTC (3TC), TAF+FTC, and ABC+3TC. The third category of drugs recommended by various guidelines with relatively high frequency includes INSTI (DTG, BIC, RAL), NNRTI (EFV) and PIs (DRV/r). The third category of drugs recommended with relatively high frequency in alternative therapies includes INSTI (DTG, RAL), NNRTI (EFV, RPV) and PIs (DRV/c). ConclusionThe methodological quality and reporting specifications of the HIV clinical practice guidelines need to be improved. The evidence grading of the guidelines is not standardized, there are differences in the combination of drugs recommended by each guideline, the strength of recommendations and the quality of the evidence are inconsistent, and there are obvious differences in the sources of evidence to support the opinions. In the future, it is necessary to combine high-quality clinical trials or randomized controlled trials, adopt systematic and rigorous evidence level and recommendation grading standards when necessary, and provide high-quality evidence sources to formulate complete guidelines. Specific conditions such as the patient's biological indicators should also be fully considered to clarify which virological and biological indicators ART therapy is suitable for, so as to provide precise treatment.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the methodological quality of Chinese clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for diagnosis and management of diabetic foot.MethodsCNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, Yimaitong databases, website of Diabetes Branch of Chinese Medical Association, website of Chinese Integrative Medicine Association and website of Peripheral Vascular Disease Professional Committee of Chinese Society of Microcirculation were electronically searched to collect relevant CPGs from inception to May, 2020. Four researchers independently evaluated the CPGs methodological quality by using AGREEⅡ tool.ResultsA total of 10 Chinese CPGs for diabetes foot were included. The standardized mean scores for various fields were 75.74% for scope and purpose, 36.58% for stakeholder involvement, 28.61% for rigor of development, 86.30% for clarity and presentation, 43.47% for applicability, and 9.44% for editorial independence. ConclusionsThere are merely a small quantity of diabetic foot guidelines in China, and the methodological quality is insufficient. Therefore, more attention should be focused on the establishment of guidelines in the future, so as to further improve the quality of Chinese diabetic foot guidelines.
ObjectivesTo evaluate the methodological quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) of Chinese rehabilitation medicine.MethodsCBM, VIP, CNKI, WanFang Data and Medlive databases were electronically searched to collect CPGs of Chinese rehabilitation medicine from January 1979 to May 2018. Four reviewers evaluated the methodological quality of the CPGs by AGREE Ⅱ.ResultsA total of 11 CPGs were included, which involved 5 CPGs on nervous system rehabilitation, 1 CPG on bone and joint system rehabilitation, 1 CPG each on pediatric rehabilitation, internal medicine system rehabilitation, burn rehabilitation, earthquake rehabilitation and rehabilitation diagnosis and treatment criteria respectively. The results of AGREE Ⅱ score showed that the average scores on six domains were 65.3%, 28.0%, 9.3%, 42.1%, 6.3% and 4.0%. There were not any level A (recommended) guidelines. Two guidelines were level B (recommended after being revised). The other nine guidelines were level C (not recommended).ConclusionsThere are a few rehabilitation CPGs in China and the quality of methodology is low. AGREE's methods and concepts have not been fully used for formulation. The rigor of development, clarity of presentation, applicability and editorial independence of guidelines should be emphasized, so as to produce high level CPGs and improve clinical practice quality in rehabilitation medicine.