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. 2024 Mar 19;14(3):e075748.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075748.

Assessment of the methodological, recommendation and reporting quality of global guidelines for neck pain and synthesis of evidence and recommendations: a systematic review protocol

Jiayu Li  1   2 , Jiayin Ou  2 , Yang Liu  3 , Chenwei Shen  1 , Xiaoli Chen  4 , Ying Li  5 , Jiayi Zhao  1 , Jing Xu  1 , Yu Zhang  6 , Lin Wang  7
Affiliations

Assessment of the methodological, recommendation and reporting quality of global guidelines for neck pain and synthesis of evidence and recommendations: a systematic review protocol

Jiayu Li et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Introduction: Neck pain is a global health problem that can cause severe disability and a huge medical burden. Clinical practice guideline (CPG) is an important basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. A high-quality CPG plays a significant role in clinical practice. However, the quality of the CPGs for neck pain lacks comprehensive assessment. This protocol aims to evaluate the methodological, recommendation, reporting quality of global CPGs for neck pain and identify key recommendations and gaps that limit evidence-based practice.

Method: CPGs from January 2013 to November 2023 will be identified through a systematic search on 13 scientific databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, etc) and 7 online guideline repositories. Six reviewers will independently evaluate the quality of CPGs for neck pain by using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation, the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation-Recommendations Excellence and the Reporting Items for Practice Guidelines in Healthcare tools. Intraclass correlation coefficient will be used to test the consistency of the assessment. We will identify the distribution of evidence and recommendations in each evidence-based CPGs for neck pain and regrade the level of evidence and strength of recommendations by adopting the commonly used Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations system. The key recommendations based on high-quality evidence will be summarised. In addition, we will categorise CPGs by different characteristics and conduct a subgroup analysis of the results of assessment.

Ethics and dissemination: No subjects will be involved in this systematic review, so there is no need for ethical approval. The finding of this review will be summarised as a paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Prospero registration number: CRD42023417717.

Keywords: bone diseases; protocols & guidelines; rehabilitation medicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram. AHRQ, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CINAHL, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature; CNKI, China National Knowledge Infrastructure; GIN, Guidelines International Networks; NHMRC, the National Health and Medical Research Council; NICE, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence; PEDro, Physiotherapy Evidence Database; PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses; SIGN, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network; VIP, Chinese Scientific Journal Database; WHO, World Health Organization.
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