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Evidence-based medicine
1Regional Parasitology Laboratory, St. Joseph's Hospital, Hamilton, Ont.
Insights
The National Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel (CATMAT) emphasizes evidence-based medicine in its clinical practice guidelines. Recommendations must cite specific evidence, indicate its strength, and note the date of the most recent evidence considered.
Area of Science:
- Tropical Medicine
- Travel Health
- Clinical Practice Guidelines
Background:
- Clinical practice guidelines are crucial outputs from the National Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel (CATMAT).
- Recent publications detail guiding principles for developing these guidelines.
- The ninth principle mandates transparency regarding evidence used in recommendations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline the National Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel's (CATMAT) approach to evidence-based medicine.
- To present the scales used by CATMAT for grading the strength of their recommendations.
Main Methods:
- Review of the ninth principle of CATMAT's clinical practice guideline development.
- Statement on the integration of evidence-based medicine into guideline creation.
- Description of the grading scales for recommendation strength.
Main Results:
- Guidelines must cite specific supporting evidence.
- The strength of the cited evidence must be clearly indicated.
- The recency of the considered evidence needs to be specified.
Conclusions:
- CATMAT adheres to rigorous evidence-based principles for its clinical practice guidelines.
- Transparency in evidence citation and grading is a key component of CATMAT's recommendations.
- These principles ensure the reliability and timeliness of travel medicine advice.
Abstract:
Clinical practice guidelines are an important product of the National Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel (CATMAT). Recent guidelines have been published on the guiding principles for clinical practice guidelines. The ninth principle states: "Clinical practice guidelines should: (a) cite the specific evidence bearing upon the conclusion, (b) indicate the strength of the evidence [and] (c) specify the date of the most recent evidence considered." The following is CATMAT's statement on evidence-based medicine and the scales used to grade its recommendations.