Article type
Abstract
Background:
The number of guidelines is growing rapidly worldwide. Although the quality of guidelines from China is constantly improving, there is still a big gap compared with the international level. As a comprehensive evaluation tool of the guidelines, the Scientific, Transparent and Applicable Ratings system of guidelines (STAR) can help clinicians select the highest-quality guidelines applicable in each situation. However, the formulation of guidelines itself still has many limitations. For example, the development of traditional guidelines takes a long time and requires a massive amount of work and resources, limiting the possibilities to keep up to date with the continuously evolving evidence basis. The development process of guidelines therefore needs to be optimized.
Objectives:
We have constructed a new approach to develop recommendations rapidly: the STAR Recommendation. This study introduces the concept, characteristics, and development process of the STAR Recommendation tool.
Methods:
The methodologists of the STAR Committee first drafted an initial protocol for the STAR Recommendation. The protocol was then revised by members of the STAR Executive Committee. STAR Secretariat members convened for internal discussions with contributors from different expert groups of STAR.
Results:
We discussed the criteria for ensuring that the STAR Recommendation was feasible and suitable for the development of guidelines and outlined the roles of various contributors across the phases of development of guidelines. We also presented the key methods and steps in using the STAR Recommendation to develop guidelines in the Summit.
Conclusions:
The STAR Recommendation is advocated for to formulate recommendations on the most urgent and concerning clinical problems in a rapid and efficient manner. Compared to traditional methods of developing a guideline, the STAR Recommendation involves a shorter timeline, narrower scope, and the use of simplified methods for the evidence review. This new method to develop recommendations can facilitate the implementation of the latest research findings in clinical decision-making and help patients to get care that is based on the best available evidence.
The number of guidelines is growing rapidly worldwide. Although the quality of guidelines from China is constantly improving, there is still a big gap compared with the international level. As a comprehensive evaluation tool of the guidelines, the Scientific, Transparent and Applicable Ratings system of guidelines (STAR) can help clinicians select the highest-quality guidelines applicable in each situation. However, the formulation of guidelines itself still has many limitations. For example, the development of traditional guidelines takes a long time and requires a massive amount of work and resources, limiting the possibilities to keep up to date with the continuously evolving evidence basis. The development process of guidelines therefore needs to be optimized.
Objectives:
We have constructed a new approach to develop recommendations rapidly: the STAR Recommendation. This study introduces the concept, characteristics, and development process of the STAR Recommendation tool.
Methods:
The methodologists of the STAR Committee first drafted an initial protocol for the STAR Recommendation. The protocol was then revised by members of the STAR Executive Committee. STAR Secretariat members convened for internal discussions with contributors from different expert groups of STAR.
Results:
We discussed the criteria for ensuring that the STAR Recommendation was feasible and suitable for the development of guidelines and outlined the roles of various contributors across the phases of development of guidelines. We also presented the key methods and steps in using the STAR Recommendation to develop guidelines in the Summit.
Conclusions:
The STAR Recommendation is advocated for to formulate recommendations on the most urgent and concerning clinical problems in a rapid and efficient manner. Compared to traditional methods of developing a guideline, the STAR Recommendation involves a shorter timeline, narrower scope, and the use of simplified methods for the evidence review. This new method to develop recommendations can facilitate the implementation of the latest research findings in clinical decision-making and help patients to get care that is based on the best available evidence.