What are Practice Guidelines?
"A set of recommendations defining conditions for using or not using available interventions in clinical or public health practice. Practice guidelines may be evidence-based and referred to as evidence-based guidelines or evidence-based recommendations." (Riegelman, R.K. (2005). Studying a study & testing a test: How to read the medical evidence. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.)
In other words, practice guidelines are sets of evidence-based, systematically developed recommendations for health care.
Practice Guideline Resources
The following resources provide access to practice guidelines, which are based on the latest evidence. Many practice guidelines include ratings of the level of evidence for each recommendation for prevention or treatment. Level of evidence is based on the type of study that supports the recommendation, from case reports and editorials on the low end up to systematic reviews on the high end. For more information on levels of evidence, please refer to the Types of Studies guide.
- ClinicalKeyClinically-oriented full-text library searches journal articles (including complete MEDLINE), books, clinical overviews, drug monographs, guidelines, clinical trials, clinical calculators, images, and videos. Searchable by keyword as well as disease, finding, procedure or drug. Published by Elsevier. 2007 - Present.
CURRENT Practice Guidelines in Primary Care 2024 by
The authoritative guidelines primary care clinicians need to diagnose and treat the most common outpatient conditions--compiled, distilled, and updated for easy referencing Striking the perfect balance between brevity and clinical necessity, this acclaimed annual resource presents all the latest evidence-based guidelines clinicians need to treat the most common outpatient conditions. The most thorough print compendium of guidelines for primary care practice, the book features content drawn from government agencies, expert panels, medical specialty organizations, and other professional and scientific authorities. CURRENT Practice Guidelines in Primary Care 2024 converts lengthy and cumbersome text into a practical, relevant collection of available options for busy clinicians. This go-to guide converts the tremendous amount of information on the web into a practical, relevant collection of usable data for busy clinicians. Each topic is carefully selected for relevance to the office practice of ambulatory medicine and the text is presented in a convenient, easy-to-navigate outline and tabular format. * Content is drawn from a wide array of recommendations from government agencies, expert panels, medical specialty organizations, and other professional and scientific authorities * NEW: Updates reflecting the review of more than 150 guidelines * NEW: Updates to guidelines for screening/prevention of ASCVD; anxiety disorders in children, pediatric obesity, chronic pain, neonatal hyperbilirubinemia; and osteoarthritis * NEW: Numerous topics have been added, including screening and prevention of eating disorders, COVID vaccination in pregnancy, prevention of pelvic floor dysfunction, management of chest pain, left ventricular thrombus, delirium * Guideline Discordance tables highlight when major guidelines do not mirror each other * Topics are carefully selected for relevance to the office practice of ambulatory medicine, and the text is enhanced by a convenient outline and tabular format * Screening and prevention of conditions have been combined to enhance clinician use
ISBN: 9781265690168Publication Date: 2023-12-06
- Guidelines International Network (GIN)International database of guidelines published or endorsed by GIN members. Includes published guidelines and registry for guidelines in development.
Appraising Practice Guidelines
- How to Interpret and Use a Clinical Practice Guideline or Recommendation: Users’ Guides to the Medical LiteratureBrignardello-Petersen R, Carrasco-Labra A, Guyatt GH. How to Interpret and Use a Clinical Practice Guideline or Recommendation: Users’ Guides to the Medical Literature. JAMA. 2021;326(15):1516–1523. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.15319
Practice Guidelines in PubMed
Searches in PubMed can be limited to display only Practice Guidelines. Access PubMed@Himmelfarb. After performing a search in PubMed, under MY NCBI FILTERS, select "Practice Guidelines". You should now see that your results list is much shorter and restricted to Practice Guidelines only.
Practice Guidelines in MEDLINE
Searches in Ovid MEDLINE can also be limited to display only Practice Guidelines. On the main search screen under Limits, scroll to "Practice Guidelines" in the Publication Types. Select this from the list and then proceed with your search.
