Abstract
BackgroundHigh quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can provide clinicians with explicit recommendations on how to manage health conditions and bridge the gap between research and clinical practice. Unfortunately, the quality of CPGs for multiple sclerosis (MS) has not been evaluated.ObjectiveTo evaluate the methodological quality of CPGs on MS using the AGREE II instrument.MethodsAccording to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we searched four databases and two websites related to CPGs, including the Cochrane library, PubMed, EMBASE, DynaMed, the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC), and Chinese Biomedical Literature database (CBM). The searches were performed on September 20th 2013. All CPGs on MS were evaluated by the AGREE II instrument. The software used for analysis was SPSS 17.0.ResultsA total of 27 CPGs on MS met inclusion criteria. The overall agreement among reviews was good or substantial (ICC was above 0.70). The mean scores for each of all six domains were presented as follows: scope and purpose (mean ± SD: 59.05±16.13), stakeholder involvement (mean ± SD: 29.53±17.67), rigor of development (mean ± SD: 31.52±21.50), clarity of presentation (mean ± SD: 60.39±13.73), applicability (mean ± SD: 27.08±17.66), editorial independence (mean ± SD: 28.70±22.03).ConclusionsThe methodological quality of CPGs for MS was acceptable for scope, purpose and clarity of presentation. The developers of CPGs need to pay more attention to editorial independence, applicability, rigor of development and stakeholder involvement during the development process. The AGREE II instrument should be adopted by guideline developers.
Highlights
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system, i.e. the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves
The methodological quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) was acceptable for scope, purpose and clarity of presentation
The AGREE II instrument should be adopted by guideline developers
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system, i.e. the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. It is characterized by the destruction of the myelin sheath that surrounds neurons, resulting in the formation of plaques. Recent data shows that in the USA over 350,000 people have MS, and a report from Cleveland Clinic indicates that MS-related health care costs are thought to be over $10 billion per year in the United States alone. High quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can provide clinicians with explicit recommendations on how to manage health conditions and bridge the gap between research and clinical practice. The quality of CPGs for multiple sclerosis (MS) has not been evaluated
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