Advancing Impact: A National Approach to Knowledge Translation in Saudi Arabia-The Saudi National Institute of Health...

To present a reproducible national model for translating research findings into evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.

The Saudi National Institute of Health launched the initiative titled "Transforming the Outcomes of Published Health Research into Medical Guidelines that Enhance Medical Practices to Improve the Quality of Human Health" on February 3, 2025. The initiative aimed to identify and assess research outcomes published between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2024 across 6 predefined thematic tracks relevant to the Saudi population. Eligible publications were collected within one month after the submission portal opened. Following closure of portal, all submissions were evaluated using the 14th Knowledge Translation Toolkits, and a weighted score was calculated using a Knowledge Translation Nexus Scoring System to generate final results.

A total of 390 publications were submitted through the online portal by 206 researchers from 128 institutions. The infectious diseases track accounted for the highest number of submissions (108; 28%), followed by oncology (70; 18%), and both rare and inherited diseases (47; 12%) and diabetes tracks (35; 9%). Ultimately, 40 publications were selected for recommendation. The liver track showed the highest median final score across all tracks and was significantly different from the cardiovascular, diabetes, and rare and inherited disease.

This initiative established a structural national framework that strengthens local research in guideline development and promotes evidence-informed health decisions. This approach can be adopted and adapted across various settings.