Methodology for the Development of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Chinese Patent Medicine（Part 3）： Identification of Clinical Questions / 中医杂志

The identification of clinical questions for clinical practice guidelines of Chinese patent medicine （CPM） is important for subsequent evidence retrieval， evaluation of evidence quality， formation of recommendations. This paper described a methodological proposal for the identification of clinical questions for CPM guidelines to highlight the characteristics of Chinese patent medicine and reflect its effect in specific stage of the disease. Considering four aspects， namely， the drug of Chinese patent medicine （D）， the specific disease stage （S）， comparison （C）， and specific outcome （O）， DSCO framework has been proposed to formulate the clinical questions. Multi-source information through scientific research， policy or standard documents， and clinical data are suggested for collecting clinical questions， and clear selection criteria should be set to finalize the clinical questions to be addressed by the guideline. In addition， the above process needs to be transparently and publicly reported in order to ensure the clarity and completeness of the guidelines.

Differences in Contents and Formation Methods of Clinical Questions in Chinese and Korean Clinical Practice Guidelines of Acupuncture-Moxibustion: Scoping Review / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the differences in the needs of users and the value orientation of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) by comparing the contents and formation methods of clinical questions in Chinese and Korean CPGs of acupuncture-moxibustion (Acup-Mox).@*METHODS@#The full text of CPGs was systematically searched from the official websites of Chinese and Korean traditional medicine societies and Acup-Mox associations, with the topic "Acup-Mox for treating diseases" and the retrieval time up to September 28, 2022. Two researchers screened the CPGs independently, and extracted the guidelines' topics, content, quantity and formation methods of clinical questions. The quantitative data were collected by counting the frequency, and the qualitative data were classified and described by thematic analysis.@*RESULTS@#A total of 29 guidelines were included in this study, including 20 Chinese guidelines (305 questions) and 9 Korean guidelines (223 questions). The differences lie in the aspects of content and diversity, and formation method. As for content and diversity, Chinese guidelines focused mainly on the questions related to treatment such as the operation of specific intervention (86, 28.2%), efficacy of intervention (78, 25.6%), and also involving questions in diagnosis, prevention, and prognosis. While the clinical questions in Korean guidelines were concentrated to efficacy of intervention (218, 97.8%). As for formation method, in Chinese guidelines, questions were usually collected directly from clinicians, and then determined and optimized by experts. In Korean guidelines, frequently used clinical Acup-Mox interventions would be screened first. Then the expert group would set up corresponding intervention control measures so as to form clinical questions related to treatment efficacy.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The differences reflect the different needs of clinical practitioners, and the different aims or concepts in developing Acup-Mox guidelines between China and South Korea. Chinese guidelines emphasized promoting operation protocols and techniques of Acup-Mox for practical use, while Korean guidelines emphasized promoting the frequently used clinical intervention therapies. It is speculated that the guidelines from these two countries would play different roles in guiding clinical operation and supporting medical decision. In terms of formation methods of clinical questions, it is suggested to attach importance to optimizing process in formatting clinical questions to improve the clinical applicability of CPGs of Acup-Mox.

An analysis of cognitions to preferred practice pattern from Chinese ophthalmologists by questionnaire / 中华实验眼科杂志

Background Preferred practice pattern (PPP) is an evidence-based documents which can be used for reference to standardize medical practice by ophthalmologists.So far it has been promoted for more than 10 years in China.However,there is no report about the popularization and application of PPP in China.Objective This study was to investigate the cognitions of ophthalmologists to PPP from the view of clinical questions.Methods A questionnaire-based study was conducted.Questionnaires were dispensed during September 17 to 21,2014 to inquiry into the cognitions of ophthalmologists to PPP in the 19th Congress of Chinese Ophthalmological Society.A selfadministered questionnaire was designed and discussed according to the article published in the past by our research group.It included personal basic information and cognitions to PPP,and the latter consisted of self-assessment and cognition scoring.The constituent ratios of aware,quite aware,unaware and fully unaware ophthalmologists were counted.The cognitions were divided into low level (0-4 scores),moderate level (5-8 scores) and high level (9-12 scores) based on the effective answer sheets.The questionnaires were filled out anonymously and incomplete questionnaires were excluded.Results Among the 300 distributed questionnaires,282 were retrieved and 209 were valid,with the effective rate 74.1％.The ophthalmologists of awareness to PPP were 46.4％ (97/209),and 53.6％ (112/209) of respondents did not know PPP very well.A positive correlation was found between the awareness to PPP and the cognition scores to clinical issues (r,=0.143,P ＜ 0.05).The cognition scores to clinical issues were significantly different among different educational backgrounds (F =12.26,P ＜ 0.05),and cognition scores were significantly reduced in the ophthalmologists with lower master degree in comparison with the ophthalmologists with doctoral degree (all at P＜0.05).The coincide ratio between cognitions of ophthalmologists to different clinical issues and suggestions in PPP were evidently different in the ophthalmologists,with the highest coincide ratio 83％ and the lowest coincide ratio 1％.Conclusions The awareness to PPP is not adequate in Chinese eye doctors,which reduces the cognition level to clinical issues.There is a poor coincide ratio between cognitions of Chinese ophthalmologists to clinical issues and suggestions in PPP.This study emphasizes the need for effective awareness programs towards clinical issues based on PPP.

EVIDENCE: CREATE, COMMUNICATE AND UTILIZE / 体力科学

EBM is the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values. EBM has been extending to “evidence-based healthcare/practice” with wider perspectives. When considering healthcare-related evidence, it is useful to distinguish three aspects. Namely, they are “create”, “communicate”and “utilize”. At first, “clinical questions” are generated in real clinical settings. To create clinical evidence, “clinical questions” need to be refined as “research questions”. Concerning the aspect of communication, there are lots of proposals and statements to improve the reporting of research findings. The Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals proposed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors has been evolved since 1979 and has become the global standard for scientific authors and editors. Concerning the aspect of “utilize”, there are two problems, that is, overuse and underuse of evidence. The former is related with the problem of evidence-practice gap. Appropriate use of clinical practice guidelines are expected to reduce these gaps. The latter is linked with the confusion that evidence equals EBM. Evidence is merely evidence even if the level is high in scientific and general meaning. When clinicians make individual decisions, they are required to do them comprehensively balancing the three factors such as evidence, value and resource.