Adherence to the RIGHT statement in Society of Interventional Radiology guidelines

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Medical Guideline Development
• Interventional Radiology

Background:

• The Reporting Items for Practice Guidelines in Health Care (RIGHT) Statement was developed to enhance transparency and reporting quality in clinical practice guideline (CPG) development.
• High-quality CPGs are essential for directing patient care and physician decisions, informed by systematic evidence reviews.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reporting quality of CPGs from the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR).
• To assess the adherence of SIR CPGs to the criteria outlined in the RIGHT Statement checklist.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review of SIR CPGs was conducted in March 2018, applying strict definitions for CPGs.
• Two researchers independently assessed adherence to the 22 criteria (35 items) of the RIGHT Statement checklist for eligible guidelines.
• Guidelines were scored using a 'yes/no' format for each item, with partial adherence recorded as 'no'.

Main Results:

• Of 46 eligible SIR CPGs, significant variability in adherence to the RIGHT checklist items was observed.
• Twelve checklist items demonstrated less than 25% adherence, while 13 items showed over 75% adherence.
• On average, CPGs adhered to 22.9 out of 35 RIGHT Statement items (median adherence: 21 items).

Conclusions:

• Interventional radiology CPGs exhibit deficiencies in reporting key areas such as patient preferences, cost considerations, recommendation strength, and evidence certainty.
• The findings indicate substantial room for improvement in the reporting standards of SIR guidelines, highlighting the need for better adherence to the RIGHT Statement.