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. 2010 Dec;19(6):509-13.
doi: 10.1136/qshc.2009.032565. Epub 2010 Aug 10.

How "should" we write guideline recommendations? Interpretation of deontic terminology in clinical practice guidelines: survey of the health services community

E A Lomotan  1 , G Michel, Z Lin, R N Shiffman
Affiliations

How "should" we write guideline recommendations? Interpretation of deontic terminology in clinical practice guidelines: survey of the health services community

E A Lomotan et al. Qual Saf Health Care. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To describe the level of obligation conveyed by deontic terms (words such as "should", "may", "must" and "is indicated") commonly found in clinical practice guidelines.

Design: Cross-sectional electronic survey.

Setting: A clinical scenario was developed by the researchers, and recommendations containing 12 deontic terms and phrases were presented to the participants.

Participants: All 1332 registrants of the 2008 annual conference of the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Main outcome measures: Participants indicated the level of obligation they believed guideline authors intended by using a slider mechanism ranging from "No obligation" (leftmost position recorded as 0) to "Full obligation" (rightmost position recorded as 100.)

Results: 445/1332 registrants (36%) submitted the on-line survey; 254/445 (57%) reported that they have experience in developing clinical practice guidelines; 133/445 (30%) indicated that they provide healthcare. "Must" conveyed the highest level of obligation (median = 100) and least amount of variability (interquartile range = 5.) "May" (median = 37) and "may consider" (median = 33) conveyed the lowest levels of obligation. All other terms conveyed intermediate levels of obligation characterised by wide and overlapping interquartile ranges.

Conclusions: Members of the health services community believe guideline authors intend variable levels of obligation when using different deontic terms within practice recommendations. Ranking of a subset of terms by intended level of obligation is possible. Matching deontic terminology to the intended recommendation strength can help standardise the use of deontic terminology by guideline developers.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Screenshot of the first three survey questions. Readers moved the slider to the left or right according to the level of obligation they believed guideline authors intended. The default position was recorded as 50 (shown above.)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Level of obligation conveyed by deontic terms commonly appearing in clinical practice guidelines. Bars represent simplified box plots displaying interquartile ranges and medians. Perceived level of obligation was recorded by a slider mechanism that ranged from 0 (“No obligation”) to 100 (“Full obligation.”)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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