Development of a guideline for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder with the ADAPTE method

The aim was to develop a clinical guideline for managing generalised anxiety disorder in Primary Health Care and Mental Health, using guideline adaptation methods.

A clinical guideline was developed, following the methods of the ADAPTE group, and implemented in a Primary Health Care District and in Mental Health Services in Spain.

Regional University Hospital of Málaga and District of Primary Health Care Málaga-Guadalhorce (Spain).

The participants were family physicians, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. The phases of the process included definition of clinical scenarios, literature search and guidelines appraisal, elaboration of recommendations, conducting focus groups with users diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, linking the testimonials of users with recommendations, external review and implementation by multifaceted interventions.

The final release included 49 Recommendations, of which 47 are from the 2011 NICE guidance for GAD and 2 of the 2011 NICE guideline for common mental disorder. Finally, seven recommendations needed to be adapted to the Spanish health care context, and three recommendations were excluded.

A guideline aimed to improve the quality and effectiveness of the care provided to people with generalised anxiety disorder has been released. The use of adaptation methods has simplified the use of resources and time. This guideline and the process designed for its implementation constitute a suitable collection of resources for the improvement on detection and treatment of GAD in primary health care. Adaptation methods play a key role in the knowledge translation continuum.