LibGuides: Clinical Practice Guidelines: Introduction

What is a Clinical Practice Guideline?

Clinical practice guidelines (also called CPGs, guidelines, and practice guidelines) are statements that include recommendations intended to optimize patient care. Guidelines are informed by rigorous systematic review, synthesis of medical literature, and an assessment of the benefits and harms of alternative care options (Institute of Medicine, NIH). For more information about how guidelines are created, look at the Mayo Clinic primer on the topic.

Guideline Repositories

One way to look for CPGs is through large repositories created specifically for guidelines.

ECRI Guidelines Trust A free extensive repository of clinical practice guidelines. You must create an account to use this resource. How to search: 1. Search your research topic in the Search bar. 2. Narrow your search.
Guideline Central Guideline database of clinicial decision support tools for healthcare professionals. How to search: 1. Select the Search tab, type in your research topic. Search by Title, Disease, or Sponsoring Organization and click the Search button. OR 2. Select the Specialty or Authoring tab and choose a a topic or organization that best relates to your research topic. NOTE: Not all organizations will have guidelines available.

Databases

You can also find plenty of guidelines in healthcare and medical databases.

AccessAnesthesiology Subscription-based collections of textbooks and clinical resources related to anesthesia. How to search: 1. In the search bar, type in: your research topic AND guideline. 2. Under the Filter Results sidebar, select the Topics dropdown menu and check guidelines.
Access Medicine Subscription-based collections of textbooks and clinical resources for health science students. How to search: 1. In the search bar, type in: your research topic AND guideline. Example: non small cell lung cancer AND guideline 2. Under the Filter Results sidebar, select the Topics dropdown menu and check guidelines.
Access Pharmacy Subscription-based collections of textbooks and clinical resources for pharmacy students. How to search: 1. In the search bar, type in: your research topic AND guideline. 2. Under the Filter Results sidebar, select the Topics dropdown menu and check guidelines. NOTE: An eText available containing guidelines within AccessPharmacy is CURRENT Practice Guidelines in Primary Care.
CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health) An extensive nursing-focused database with English-language nursing journals and publications. How to search: 1. Log in using your Multipass. 2. In the search bar, type in: your research topic AND "practice guideline" Example: non small cell lung cancer AND "practice guideline" NOTE: Some results may be reviews of clinical practice guidelines rather than clinical practice guidelines.
ClinicalKey Subscription-based collections of books, journals, and clinical resources for health sciences students. How to search: 1. Switch the drop down menu from All Types to Guidelines. 2. Type your research topic in the search bar. NOTE: ClinicalKey includes guidelines from numerous sources.
DUQSearch Search for guidelines within Duquesne's ebook collection. How to search: 1. In the DUQSearch box, type in your research topic and "clinical guideline" 2. Example: non small cell lung cancer AND "clinical guideline" 3. Under Refine Results, scroll down to Limit by source type and check the eBooks box. 4. You can further narrow your search by limiting the publication dates.
Embase A database covering the most important international biomedical literature from 1947 to the present day. How to search: 1. In the Quick search box, type in and search your research topic. 2. In the Results Filters sidebar to the left, select the Study Types dropdown menu. 3. Scroll until you see “practice guideline” and select that box. 4. Click Apply.
PEDro Physiotherapy Evidence Database A free database of guidelines, reviews, and trials evaluating physiotherapy interventions. How to search: 1. Type in one or more search terms into the Abstract and Title box. 2. You can fill in any other boxes, but one or two well-chosen words in the Abstract and Title box should be enough. 3. Select the Method box and choose practice guideline. 4. Select Match all search terms and click the Start Search button.
PubMed @ Duquesne Duquesne-focused PubMed access. How to search: 1. Type in the search bar: your research topic AND "practice guideline*" Example: non small cell lung cancer AND "practice guideline*"
Trip Medical Database A free clinical search engine designed to find research-based evidence to support care and practice. How to search: 1. In the search bar, type in, and search your research topic. 2. In the Evidence Type right sidebar, select Guidelines. 3. You can then select a country from which you would like guidelines.
UpToDate A clinician-focused decision support resource for medical knowledge at the point of care. You must create an account to use UpToDate. How to search: 1. Type in and search your research topic in the search bar. 2. Select the link that best fits your research topic. 3. Under the Topic Outline left sidebar, scroll down and select Society Guideline Links. 4. You will be taken to a list of links to US and international practice guidelines.

Organizations that Create Guidelines

ACP (American College of Physicians) Internal medicine guidelines for clinicians developed by specialists. How to search: 1. Scroll through the available guidelines by disease.
American Society of Health Physician Pharmacists Guidelines and policies developed specifically for pharmacy practice. How to search: 1. Look through the listed guidelines provided on the guidelines page.
CDC (Center for Disease Control and Protection) CDC-developed guidelines and recommendations focused on providing actionable steps to address specific issues of importance to public health. How to search: 1. In the Search bar, type in your research topic and click the Search button. You can then narrow your results using the side boxes.
US Preventative Services Task Force Published Recommendations An independent panel of experts in primary care and prevention that systematically reviews and develops recommendations for clinical preventive services. How to search: 1. Type in your research topic in the search bar. 2. Narrow your results using the Filter sidebar.
WHO (World Health Organization) WHO-developed international guidelines containing recommendations for clinical practice and public health policy. How to search: 1. Scroll down and search through List by topic for your research topic. 2. You can also look through Lists by year and by title.

For more well-established organizations that create and sponsor clinical practice guidelines, click here.

Resources for Evaluating Clinical Practice Guidelines

Evaluate the quality of a CPG before you take into consideration its recommendations. Check out these resources to evaluate any CPG.