Current knowledge on the adaptation of clinical practice guidelines: a scoping review

The adaptation of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) is increasingly used to efficiently develop contextualised recommendations for local, regional and national settings. However, adaptation approaches lack standardisation, and their application remains unclear.

To identify existing literature on CPG adaptation approaches, synthesise and analyse the definitions, rationales, key steps and their applications.

We conducted a scoping review and identified studies through (1) database searches in MEDLINE and EMBASE (October 2024); (2) forward citation searches (January 2024); (3) manual searches; and (4) expert recommendations. We included documents describing adaptation approaches that allow reproducibility or adapted guidelines reflecting their application, without language restriction. We analysed data using descriptive and content analysis, with visualisations using Tableau.

We identified 49 adaptation approaches (2000-2024) and 151 applications (2007-2024). 28 approaches originated from high-income countries (57.1%), primarily aimed at improving guideline development efficiency. We categorised these approaches into methodological frameworks (n=16, 32.7%), medical association frameworks (n=7, 14.3%), organisational handbooks (n=12, 24.5%), national or regional approaches (n=13, 26.5%) and one topic-specific methodology. From the key adaptation steps of the identified approaches, we found that 'judging quality of evidence' and 'establishing guideline group processes' were the least addressed. Approximately 20% of applications modified the original approaches during the adaptation process. ADAPTE (n=50, 33.1%) and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE)-ADOLOPMENT (n=41, 27.2%) are the most commonly used adaptation approaches. Also, over half of the identified applications were adapted at the evidence level (n=88, 58.3%) and completed the process within 12 months (range: 2-36 months).

49 adaptation approaches were identified, with a recent surge in interest and utilisation. Although adaptation can save time and resources, substantial variations among existing approaches and their applications remain. These findings highlight the need for comprehensive guidance to support standardisation and optimise the quality of the adaptation process.