Development of living evidence-informed guidelines, part 2: Guideline topic prioritization

Developing evidence-informed guidelines is a time- and resource-intensive process. Methodological standards have been developed for prioritizing guidelines, and the purpose of this article is to consolidate and elaborate on these methods to articulate them for living guidelines.

The body of evidence addressing methodological aspects for prioritizing topics for guideline development in the context of living evidence-informed clinical and public health guidelines was included. The most up-to-date articles presenting guideline prioritization methodology were selected.

The topic prioritization process identifies high-impact topics in oral health using a structured and interest-holder-driven approach. The process for living guidelines includes 3 key phases: preprioritization, prioritization, and postprioritization. Evidence mapping summarizes existing evidence guidance, and advisory groups help rank topics on the basis of relevance and feasibility. This process enables classification of topics into urgent, important, and not important priority categories. The outcomes of this process include alignment with evolving evidence needs and a repeatable framework that supports timely and efficient development of living evidence-informed guideline topics.

A structured, iterative topic prioritization approach enables targeted resource allocation and continuous responsiveness to emerging evidence and helps maintain the relevance of living evidence-informed guidelines. Within rapidly evolving clinical and public health contexts, this process allows target users to have access to recommendations on priority topics.