Development of clinical practice guidelines in 11 common diseases with Chinese medicine interventions in China

To analyze the clinical practice guideline (CPG) development on 11 common diseases with Chinese medicine (CM) interventions in China.

The CPGs of 11 common diseases which could be treated effectively with CM had been published between 1980 and 2010 in China. The 11 diseases include coronary heart disease (angina pectoris), hypertension, chronic gastritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cerebral infarction, migraine, diabetes, primary osteoporosis, insomnia, common cold, and IgA nephropathy. The issuing organization, date of publication, development methods, and citation rate of the CPGs were analyzed. According to the development method, each guideline was categorized as consensus-based (CB), evidence-based (EB), or consensus based with no explicit consideration of evidence-based (CB-EB).

Thirty-three CPGs on the 11 common diseases were found: 20 guidelines were classified as CB, 13 as CB-EB and none as EB. Fifteen CPGs were issued by the China Association of Chinese Medicine, 8 by professional working groups, and 4 by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Six guidelines were published between 1980 and 1990, 9 between 1991 and 2000, and 18 between 2001 and 2010. Fifty-eight percent of these guidelines have not been amended timely. Only 54.5% (18/33) of the 33 guidelines were cited by other researchers and 45.5% (15/33) percent had never been cited.

Most CPGs developed for 11 common diseases with CM approaches in China are consensus, and their citation rates are relatively low. The results suggest that more EB CPG or CPG strictly based on expert consensus could be developed, and great efforts should be made for future CM CPG application.