[A study on exploring consensus developing standards in clinical practice guideline for traditional Chinese medicine]

Area of Science:

• Integrative Medicine
• Evidence-Based Practice
• Clinical Guideline Development

Background:

• Expert consensus is crucial for clinical practice guideline (CPG) development.
• Integrating traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theories into evidence-based CPGs requires standardized processes.
• Existing CPG development methods may not adequately incorporate TCM principles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a structured and transparent process for developing CPG recommendations.
• To outline a method for integrating traditional Chinese medicine theories with scientific evidence.
• To provide a framework for future researchers in TCM-based CPG development.

Main Methods:

• Summarizing practical experience in CPG development.
• Developing a flowchart to visualize the consensus-building process.
• Establishing a transparency framework for integrating TCM theories and evidence.

Main Results:

• A proposed flowchart for expert consensus development in CPGs.
• A transparency process for incorporating both TCM theories and empirical evidence.
• A methodological approach to enhance the rigor of TCM-informed CPGs.

Conclusions:

• A standardized, transparent process is necessary for developing CPGs that integrate TCM.
• The proposed flowchart and transparency process can guide future research and guideline development.
• This approach aims to improve the quality and applicability of TCM-based clinical guidelines.