To maximize the efficiency of resources and reduce redundancy, organizations and countries may decide to adapt an existing practice guideline rather than developing a new one. The RIGHT (Reporting Items for practice Guidelines in HealThcare) statement currently informs the reporting of the guideline development; however, it does not cover reporting of steps that are specific to guideline adaptation.
A scientific workgroup, filled this gap and developed a new reporting tool designed to improve standardization and transparency of adapted health care guidelines. Called the RIGHT-Ad@pt Checklist, the tool focuses on improving the clarity and explicitness of recommendations that have been adapted for use in different health care systems, and of the guideline development process.
The RIGHT-Ad@pt Checklist was developed as an extension of the RIGHT statement through a multi-step process involving literature reviews and consensus building involving a range of stakeholders including guideline adaptation experts, users, journal editors, and policy makers. The checklist was designed to be used to guide the reporting of adapted guidelines, including adaptation process and the adapted recommendations. It can also be applied to assess the completeness of reporting and, in combination with available adaptation frameworks, to inform adaptation processes. Different audiences may use the RIGHT-Ad@pt checklist for different purposes:
- Guideline developers could use the checklist to report their adapted guidelines;
- Journal editors and reviewers could use the checklist to ensure the completeness and transparency of the reporting in the publication of adapted guidelines;
- Clinicians could accurately identify and apply adapted recommendations to their clinical practice based on detailed and clear reporting; and
- Policymakers could evaluate the feasibility of adapted recommendations for local implementation based on the reporting contents suggested by the checklist.
The checklist was published in Annals of Internal Medicine and is available here
Dr. Soumyadeep Bhaumik 