Methodological rigor and reporting quality of clinical practice guidelines for adults hospitalized with bacterial pneumonia: a scoping review protocol.

Abstract

This scoping review presents a profile of methodological rigor and reporting quality of clinical practice guidelines for adults hospitalized with bacterial pneumonia. An ideal clinical practice guideline is evidence-based and the product of a rigorous and robust literature-vetted process, yet reports show that rigor is not being achieved. Moreover, a new vulnerable population has been identified due to COVID-19. Preliminary searches yielded no scoping or systematic reviews on methodological rigor and reporting quality of clinical practice guidelines used for managing bacterial pneumonia in hospitalized adults. This review will consider current national and international clinical practice guidelines for management of hospitalized adult patients with either suspected or confirmed primary bacterial pneumonia. The review will include adult patients with multiple diagnoses if there is a clearly delineated clinical practice guideline for pneumonia. A 3-step search strategy will be conducted using JBI methodology for scoping reviews. After an initial MEDLINE search for keywords, a broad search of 7 databases, 1 simultaneous platform, gray literature, specialty organizations, and international guideline groups will be conducted from 2017 to present, in any language. Reference lists will be screened for additional sources. A 2-step screening process will be used to identify eligible clinical practice guidelines. Three reviewers will independently extract data, using a standardized form. Domain scores will be analyzed and presented as percentages, and the results will be interpreted as map trends. https://osf.io/h896x.