[What conditions should the diagnosis and treatment guidelines meet, to be true clinical practice guidelines based on...

The guides for diagnosis and treatment prepared by scientific medical societies constitute a very useful tool for the professional practice of the specialty. Supported by an updated bibliography, they represent material of enormous value with recommendations from experts on the various topics of the specialty. This article attempts to determine if they could be designed as "Evidence - Based Clinical Practice Guidelines" (CPG BE), for which the stages in their development and the requirements that they reviewed. The CPG BE are a "set of recommendations prepared systematically to help professionals and patients in making decisions about the most appropriate health care, selecting the most appropriate diagnostic and/or therapeutic options to address a problem of health or a specific clinical condition". Their objective is to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and safety of clinical decisions, and they can serve a basis for the development of health policies. The preparation of CPGs represents a complex process, which requires knowledge, experience and resources, both in time and money. Its robustness does not depend on who does it, but on how it is done. This implies the participation of technicians who provide the evaluation of the evidence using the GRADE method and the consideration of cost-effectiveness aspects.