Clinical practice guidelines are “statements that include recommendations intended to optimize patient care and are informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of the benefits and harms of alternative care options.”[1] Their utility and limitations have recently been well described by D. Etches in This Changed My Practice.[2]
Given that many guidelines are created outside of the scholarly publishing industry, these documents are not necessarily indexed in databases such as Medline. This creates a challenge to locate and access current guidelines. Fortunately, the two other directories make finding guidelines easy:
For guideline suggestions or assistance locating copies of guidelines, please contact the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC library at 604 733-6671 or medlib@cpsbc.ca [10] or view a list of guideline sources on our Practice Guidelines page.
—Karen MacDonell, PhD, MLIS
Director, Library Services
1. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Standards for Developing Trustworthy Clinical Practice Guidelines; Graham R, Mancher M, Miller Wolman D, et al., editors. Clinical practice guidelines we can trust. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011.
2. Etches D. Guidelines. This Changed My Practice. 21 Feb 2018. Accessed 7 March 2018. http://thischangedmypractice.com/guidelines [11].
3. CPG Infobase: Clinical practice guidelines. Canadian Medical Association. Accessed 7 March 2018. www.cma.ca/En/Pages/clinical-practice-guidelines.aspx [12].
4. National Guideline Clearinghouse. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US). Rockville, MD. Accessed 7 March 2018. www.guideline.gov [13].
Links
[1] https://bcmj.org/cover/april-2018
[2] https://bcmj.org/author/karen-macdonell-phd-mlis
[3] https://bcmj.org/node/6404
[4] https://bcmj.org/sites/default/files/BCMJ_Vol60_No3_college_library%20%28ID%20184862%29.pdf
[5] https://bcmj.org/print/college-library/finding-clinical-practice-guidelines
[6] https://bcmj.org/printmail/college-library/finding-clinical-practice-guidelines
[7] http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://bcmj.org/print/college-library/finding-clinical-practice-guidelines&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[8] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Finding clinical practice guidelines&url=https://bcmj.org/print/college-library/finding-clinical-practice-guidelines&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[9] https://bcmj.org/javascript%3A%3B
[10] mailto:medlib@cpsbc.ca
[11] http://thischangedmypractice.com/guidelines
[12] https://www.cma.ca/En/Pages/clinical-practice-guidelines.aspx
[13] https://www.guideline.gov/
[14] https://bcmj.org/modal_forms/nojs/webform/176
[15] https://bcmj.org/%3Finline%3Dtrue%23citationpop