Prioritization of clinical questions for the Australian Living Guideline for the Pharmacological Management of Inflammatory Arthritis

Abstract

AimLiving guidelines aim to reduce delays in translating new knowledge into practice by updating individual recommendations as soon as relevant new evidence emerges. We surveyed members of the Australian Rheumatology Association (ARA) to develop a list of priority questions for the Australian Living Guideline for the Pharmacological Management of Inflammatory Arthritis (ALG) and to explore clinicians' use of clinical practice guidelines.MethodsAn electronic survey of ARA members was performed in two phases. The first survey contained questions about current guideline use and beliefs and invited participants to submit at least three questions relevant to the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In the second round, participants selected 10 questions they considered to be the highest priority from the collated list and ranked them in priority order. The sum of ranks was used to generate a final priority list.ResultsThere were 115 (21%) and 78 (14%) responses to the first and second survey rounds respectively. 87% of respondents use existing rheumatology guidelines in their usual practice, primarily EULAR guidelines. Most respondents favored the development of Australian rheumatology guidelines. In total, 34 potential recommendation topics were identified and ranked in order of priority.ConclusionA list of 34 clinical questions about RA management, ranked in order of importance by clinicians, has informed the development of the ALG. Similar prioritization exercises in other contexts may permit guidelines to be tailored to the needs of guideline users in their specific context, which may facilitate international collaboration and promote efficient translation of evidence to practice.

Prioritisation of clinical trial learning needs of musculoskeletal researchers: an inter-disciplinary modified Delphi study by the Australia & New Zealand musculoskeletal clinical trials network

“…osteoarthritis, gout), autoimmune rheumatic conditions (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus), regional specific or non-specific musculoskeletal conditions (e.g., low back pain), fractures, and osteoporosis [ 20 ]. We adopted methodology used in previous ANZMUSC studies to identify priority clinical questions to inform clinical guidelines [ 21 , 22 ]. This process incorporates key features of the Delphi methodology, in order to generate a ranked list of priority topics.…”

“…Analysis was based on methods used in previous prioritisation studies conducted by ANZMUSC [ 21 , 22 ]. Each topic was assigned a ‘ranking score’ using results of the Round 2 survey, with 10 points allocated to any topic each time it was ranked first by a participant, to 1 point for any topic each time it was ranked tenth by a participant.…”

Australian recommendations on perioperative use of disease‐modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs in people with inflammatory arthritis undergoing elective surgery

“…Perioperative use of DMARDs in people with inflammatory arthritis undergoing elective surgery was identified as a priority topic for the Australian Living Guideline through a survey of members of the Australian Rheumatology Association. 2 This paper presents the newly developed Australian living guidance on this topic.…”