CHEST Guidelines-Methodologic-Quality-of-Guidelines-for-Training-or

Methodologic-Quality-of-Guidelines-for-Training-or

Pdf Summary

The systematic review titled "Methodologic Quality of Guidelines for Training or Competence Processes for Basic Point-of-Care Echocardiography in Critical Care" examines the methodological quality of guidelines on basic critical care echocardiography (BCCE) training. Conducted by a multidisciplinary team, the study seeks to identify the quality of expert guidelines in BCCE training and competence processes, given the potential biases in formulating expert opinions which may affect recommendation quality.<br /><br />The study involved a thorough review of literature using four databases to identify guidelines pertaining to BCCE education/training. Each guideline was assessed both subjectively for its recommendation details and objectively using the AGREE-II tool, which evaluates clinical practice guidelines across six domains. A guideline required scores of 75% or higher in all domains to be deemed suitable for use without modifications.<br /><br />From 4,288 abstracts reviewed, 24 guidelines met the inclusion criteria. Most guidelines lacked detailed recommendations on essential training components for both introductory and longitudinal BCCE courses, such as course duration, trainer qualifications, and minimum scan numbers. Only five guidelines achieved an overall AGREE-II score of 75%, with just one fulfilling the criteria across all domains.<br /><br />The review highlights significant deficiencies in the guideline formulation processes for BCCE training, indicating a widespread lack of systematic methods in developing these guidelines. It underscores the need for clearer recommendations and comprehensive stakeholder involvement to improve the validity of such training guidelines. Further longitudinal studies are recommended to evaluate the impact of these deficiencies on the recommendations’ validity. <br /><br />In summary, the study reveals that current BCCE training guidelines often do not adhere to robust methodological processes, suggesting a need for more systematic and clearly formulated guidelines to ensure high-quality training and accreditation processes in critical care settings.

Keywords

BCCE training

critical care echocardiography

guideline quality

AGREE-II tool

training guidelines

methodological review

expert recommendations

stakeholder involvement

clinical practice

guideline development