A pilot living clinical practice guidelines approach was feasible and acceptable to guideline panel members

Peter Bragge; David J Allison; Swati Mehta; Stacey Guy; Eldon Loh

doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.11.037

A pilot living clinical practice guidelines approach was feasible and acceptable to guideline panel members

J Clin Epidemiol. 2022 Mar:143:22-29. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.11.037. Epub 2021 Nov 29.

Authors

Peter Bragge¹, David J Allison², Swati Mehta², Stacey Guy³, Eldon Loh⁴

Affiliations

¹ BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, 8 Scenic Boulevard, Clayton Campus, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia. Electronic address: peter.bragge@monash.edu.
² Parkwood Institute Research, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada.
³ Ontario Centers for Learning, Research and Innovation, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Parkwood Institute Research, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 34856368
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.11.037

Abstract

Objectives: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) help to translate best available evidence into clinical practice but can be challenging to keep current due to their resource intensive nature. A "living" process that is used to continually update CPGs may therefore be of value.

Study design and setting: This pilot study assesses the development of a living CPG protocol based on the CanPainSCI CPG. Two "living CPG" update searches were performed; resource costs and acceptability were assessed by a research team across Australia and Canada RESULTS: Two updates were completed over 3 years. Literature searches and data extraction were completed by trainees on 119 and 58 papers. Eight papers were included and reviewed by 14 expert panel members. Resource usage included a total 43 hours of screening by trainees at $2,356 (USD), 24 hours of expert panel review at $3,141 (USD) and 30 hours of project management at $3,241 (USD). Reviewers were generally satisfied with the process. All reviewers agreed that incorporating a living guidelines approach would be useful.

Conclusion: This paper outlines the process of maintaining a CPG through a living guideline process and provides resource costs and acceptability data which may aid stakeholders in the development of future CPGs.

Keywords: Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs); Living guideline feasibility and cost; Living guideline methods; Pain; Pilot; Spinal cord injury.

MeSH terms

Australia
Canada
Humans
Pilot Projects*
Practice Guidelines as Topic