Assessment of the Quality and Content of Clinical Practice Guidelines on Irritable Bowel Syndrome Using the AGREE II Instrument

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the quality of guidelines on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument and identify concordance of different commendations.

Materials and methods: A systematic search was undertaken from inception to May 2018. Two reviewers independently selected the titles and abstracts. The guidelines included were assessed using the AGREE II instrument. The consistency of evaluations was calculated using intra-class correlation coefficients with 95% CI.

Results: From 994 records, 7 guidelines were included. Most of guidelines got a moderate score of AGREE II. The highest median scores were achieved for scope and purpose and clarity and presentation (69.4%), while the lowest median scores across guidelines were for applicability (50.0%). Most of the nonpharmacologic management recommendations for IBS were similar. However, there also existed some differences on pharmacologic between different guidelines.

Conclusions: The guidelines on IBS varied in quality and there were discrepancies about recommendations and recommendation grades. There is some space to improvement the quality of methodological rigor in development and reporting within clinical guidelines.

Keywords: AGREE II; Guidelines; Irritable bowel syndrome.