Quality assessment of clinical practice guidelines of Chinese and western medicine for acute bronchitis

Abstract

IntroductionSeveral studies have reported that clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in a variety of clinical areas are of modest or variable quality. The objective of this study was to systematically review the quality, methodology, and consistency of recently developed CPGs for Chinese and western medicine on the management of acute bronchitis, and provide specific recommendations for patients with acute bronchitis. MethodsA systematic search was conducted for acute bronchitis CPGs in adults and children from 2000–2019. The quality of CPGs was independently assessed by four assessors using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument, the CPGS were rated as recommended, recommended with modifications, or not recommended and the specific pharmacological, non-pharmacological and prevention recommendations in the CPGs were summarized and evaluated. ResultsThere was considerable variation in the quality of the CPGs across the AGREE II domains in 13 CPGs. The overall quality ranged from 3.5–6.5 out of 7. The domains that scored the highest were ‘clarity of presentation’, with a mean value of 71.1 % (range 45.8–86.1 %), scored the lowest were ‘editorial independence’ 40.6 % (range 0–81.3 %). The CPGs recommendations of pharmacological, non-pharmacological and prevention management were fairly consistent. ConclusionOur results could help improve reporting of future guidelines, and affect the selection and usage of guidelines in clinical practice. Further research is needed on interventions for acute bronchitis, and higher quality CPGs to facilitate implementation of the best evidence-based recommendations in clinical practice.