A number of international Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) and other Clinical Decision Making Tools (CDMTs) have been published so far on prevention, diagnosis, and clinical care in RHD. However, no central repository compiling both oncological and non-oncological disorders CPGs and CDMTs was available at the time of ERN establishment.
ERN-EuroBloodNet aimed to create a comprehensive repository of CPGs and CDMTs classified by Quality Domains and to identify gaps for promoting the creation of new ones on areas where they are lacking.
An initial list of 116 CPGs and other CDMTs was compiled with the feedback from subnetwork coordinators and members.
Classification of CPGs and other CDMTs have been performed based on the following Quality Domains:
a) Scope and purpose
Document shall be classified based on the objectives and clinical questions, adopting the following items:
b) Patients' involvement
Composition of the CPGs and other CDMTs development group shall be evaluated with reference to the involvement of patient advocacy organizations patients.
c) Rigour of development
Methodology adopted to develop the CPGs and other CDMTs shall be assessed according to the following scale:
A: Evidence and consensus-based CPGs and other CDMTs: grading system for strength of recommendation involving assessment of the quality of evidence (study design, study quality, consistency) (e.g. GRADE, SIGN)
B: Consensus-based CPGs and other CDMTs: formal consensus development techniques (e.g. Delphi method, nominal group technique)
C: Expert opinion: entirely based on opinions by experts without formal consensus development techniques