Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Rationale, aims and objectives</jats:title><jats:p>Recently, in an attempt to reduce variability in clinical practice and produce better results for patients, several clinical practice guidelines (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGs</jats:styled-content>) for the appropriate diagnosis and management of bronchiolitis in infants have been developed. However, the quality of available <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGs</jats:styled-content> for bronchiolitis management has not yet been systematically evaluated. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of acute viral bronchiolitis <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGs</jats:styled-content>.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Method</jats:title><jats:p>We performed a systematic and exhaustive search of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGs</jats:styled-content> on bronchiolitis published from 2000 to 2014. Three independent appraisers assessed the quality of the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGs</jats:styled-content> using the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">A</jats:styled-content>ppraisal of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">G</jats:styled-content>uidelines <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">R</jats:styled-content>esearch and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">E</jats:styled-content>valuation (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AGREE</jats:styled-content>) <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">II</jats:styled-content> instrument. A standardized score was calculated for each of the six domains, and the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGS</jats:styled-content> were rated as recommended, recommended with modifications, or not recommended.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Six <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGs</jats:styled-content> published between the years 2000 and 2014 were selected from a total of 111 citations. There was substantial agreement among reviewers (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ICC</jats:styled-content>: 0.75; 95% <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CI</jats:styled-content>, 0.61–0.89). The domains that scored the highest were ‘scope and purpose’, with a mean value of 92.1% (range: 77.8–100%), and ‘clarity of presentation’ [83.3% (69.4–91.7%)]. Those that scored the lowest were ‘applicability’ [44.3% (8.3–77.1%)], and ‘stakeholder involvement’ [66.7% (47.2–94.4%)]. Three <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGS</jats:styled-content> were evaluated as being recommended with modifications, and only two were recommended for use in clinical practice.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Available bronchiolitis <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGs</jats:styled-content> vary in quality, and the findings of the present study are useful for identifying aspects or domains where there is room for improvement in future <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CPGs</jats:styled-content>.</jats:p></jats:sec>