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Practice guidelines in Finland: availability and quality.

H Varonen¹, M Mäkelä

¹National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland.

Quality in Health Care : QHC

|May 7, 1997

Summary

Finland has numerous practice guidelines, but their quality and accessibility vary significantly. Many local and regional guidelines lack documented evidence, hindering effective clinical decision-making.

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Area of Science:

Medical Practice Guidelines
Health Services Research
Evidence-Based Medicine

Background:

Practice guidelines are crucial for standardizing healthcare.
Understanding the landscape of guidelines in Finland is essential for improving healthcare quality.
Previous assessments of Finnish practice guidelines are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify and qualify practice guidelines in Finland.
To assess the availability and dissemination of these guidelines.
To evaluate the evidence base supporting Finnish practice guidelines.

Main Methods:

A cross-sectional survey was conducted.
Guidelines published between 1989 and 1995 were collected via database searches, journal hand searches, and inquiries to healthcare institutions.
Guideline content, evidence source, and referencing were assessed.

Main Results:

A total of 719 practice guidelines were identified, with most (62%) developed locally.
The quality of evidence and structure of guidelines varied widely; only two were based on meta-analysis.
National guidelines were significantly more likely to document references (86%) compared to regional or local ones (11%).

Conclusions:

The proliferation of guidelines and varied dissemination methods create challenges for end-users in finding appropriate resources.
Regional and local guidelines frequently lacked documented evidence, and even some national guidelines were poorly referenced.
There is a need to improve the documentation of evidence levels, guideline structure, and strategies for guideline development and dissemination.

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