Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Aug;48(3):747-761.
doi: 10.1016/j.rdc.2022.03.008. Epub 2022 Jul 5.

The Evaluation of Guideline Quality in Rheumatic Diseases

Claire E H Barber  1 , Cheryl Barnabe  2 , Nicole M S Hartfeld  3 , Kiran Dhiman  3 , Glen S Hazlewood  2
Affiliations
Review

The Evaluation of Guideline Quality in Rheumatic Diseases

Claire E H Barber et al. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

We evaluated the quality of selected rheumatology guidelines using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument. Guidelines were also assessed to determine if Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology had been used during development and for the inclusion of health inequity considerations. Only half of the guidelines used the GRADE methodology, and this was associated with higher AGREE II ratings in the Rigor of Development domain. Ongoing areas identified for improvement included more meaningful engagement of patients in guideline panels, increased transparency of the management of conflicts of interest, improved reporting of strategies for guideline implementation, and increased consideration of the health equity implications throughout guideline development and implementation.

Keywords: Evidenced-based medicine; Implementation; Practice guideline; Quality of care; Rheumatology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure C.E.H. Barber, N.M.S. Hartfeld, K. Dhiman and G. Hazlewood do not have any relevant commercial disclosures. Dr C.E.H. Barber is supported by an Arthritis Society Stars Career Development Award that is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Musculoskeletal Health STAR-19-0611/CIHR SI2-169745. Dr C. Barnabe holds a CIHR Canada Rresearch Chair in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autoimmune Disease. Dr C. Barnabe has received speaker fees from Pfizer and Sanofi Genzyme and advisory board member fees from Celltrion Healthcare and Gilead. Dr G. Hazlewood is the current Chair of the CRA’s Guidelines Committee and Drs C.E.H. Barber and C. Barnabe are members of this committee.

LinkOut - more resources