European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Standard Operating Procedure for the development of guidelines

The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) has developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the development of clinical practice guidelines, ensuring adherence to rigorous methodological standards based on the principles of the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. Key components include a transparent process for managing conflicts of interest, the incorporation of multidisciplinary panels including individuals with lived experience of diabetes, an evidence synthesis based on comprehensive systematic reviews, and an explicit peer review process. This SOP delineates the roles and responsibilities of the main structures involved, including the Guidelines Oversight Committee, Guideline Development Panels, and Evidence Synthesis Teams. Additionally, the SOP describes the main stages in guideline development, namely scoping of the guideline topic, evidence synthesis, development of Evidence-to-Decision frameworks for the formulation of clear, patient-centred recommendations, writing of the guideline document and the review process.