Using AGREE II to evaluate the quality of traditional medicine clinical practice guidelines in China

Wei Deng; Le Li; Zixia Wang; Xiaonan Chang; Rui Li; Ziye Fang; Dang Wei; Liang Yao; Xiaoqin Wang; Qi Wang; Guanghui An; Yaolong Chen

doi:10.1111/jebm.12197

Using AGREE II to evaluate the quality of traditional medicine clinical practice guidelines in China

J Evid Based Med. 2016 Aug;9(3):152-162. doi: 10.1111/jebm.12197.

Authors

Wei Deng¹, Le Li², Zixia Wang³, Xiaonan Chang², Rui Li¹, Ziye Fang², Dang Wei^{4

5}, Liang Yao^{4

5}, Xiaoqin Wang^{4

5}, Qi Wang^{4

5}, Guanghui An^{6

7}, Yaolong Chen⁸

Affiliations

¹ The Second Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
² The First Clinical Medical College of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
³ School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
⁴ Evidence-Based Medicine Center/Chinese GRADE Center/School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Evidence Based Medicine and Knowledge Translation of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
⁶ Acupuncture and Tuina College, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China.
⁷ Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of TCM, Shanghai, 201203, China.
⁸ Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700, China.

PMID: 26997003
DOI: 10.1111/jebm.12197

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate/assess the quality of the clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) of traditional medicine in China.

Methods: We systematically searched the literature databases WanFang Data, VIP, CNKI, and CBM for studies published between 1978 and 2012 to identify and select CPGs of traditional medicine. We used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument to evaluate these guidelines.

Results: A total of 75 guidelines were included, of which 46 guidelines (62%) were on Traditional Chinese Medicine, 19 (25%) on Chinese Integrated Medicine, and 10 (13%) on Uyghur Medicine. Most traditional medicine CPGs published in domestic journals scored <20% (range: 0% to 63%). Eleven (14%) CPGs were developed following the methodology of evidence-based medicine. In each domain of AGREE II, traditional medicine CPGs performed clearly better than international CPGs. The same trend was seen in guidelines of modern medicine.

Conclusions: An increasing amount of CPGs are being published, but their quality is low. Referring to the key points of international guidelines development, supervision through AGREE II, cooperating with international groups and exploring the strategy of guideline development could improve the quality of CPGs on traditional medicine.

Keywords: AGREE II; Traditional Chinese Medicine; clinical practice guidelines; quality assessment; traditional Medicine.