RIGHT for acupuncture: An extension of the RIGHT statement for clinical practice guidelines on acupuncture

Abstract

Objective: In 2017, the International Standard for Reporting Items for practice Guideline in HealThcare (RIGHT) published reporting guidelines to enhance transparency and clarity in the process of developing clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). Given the original tool was developed in 2017 and demanded in developing and reporting high quality of acupuncture CPGs, an extension with a focus on a specific reporting checklist was warranted.

Study design and setting: The study was designed based on the methodology recommended by the Enhancing the Quality and Transparency Of Health Research (EQUATOR) Network with modification accordingly. A reporting checklist and its elaboration and explanations for users were developed.

Results: A checklist of seven sections (Basic information, Background, Evidence, Recommendations, Funding, Declaration and management of interest, Other information), twenty-three first level items and forty-three second level items was developed. We clarified the rationales of the items and provided explanations and examples of each item for additional guidance.

Conclusion: The RIGHT for Acupuncture checklist identifies a set of items to be reported when reviewing clinical practice guidelines on acupuncture. This extension can be expected to improve the reporting quality of CPGs on acupuncture.

Keywords: Acupuncture; Clinical practice guidelines; RIGHT extension; Reporting guideline; Reporting quality; Traditional Chinese medicine.