Abstract
Background and Objectives
Methods
Results
Conclusion
Keywords
- •Quality Assurance and Improvement (QAI), in particular quality indicators, are usually based on guideline recommendations. Ideally, QAI would be systematically integrated into guideline development initiatives to improve their coordination.
Key findings
- •The GIN-McMaster Guideline Development Checklist has been utilized widely, but until recently did not incorporate considerations for QAI.
- •Integrated guidelines and QAI should begin with considerations at the initial planning stage and be incorporated throughout the process.
What this adds to what is known?
- •This checklist extension is now ready to help support integrated guideline and QAI efforts and ensure QAI schemes are based on the evidence that underpin guideline recommendations.
What is the implication, what should change now?
1. Background
- Piggott T.
- Langendam M.W.
- Parmelli E.
- Adolfsson J.
- Akl E.A.
- Armstrong D.
- et al.
European commission initiative on colorectal cancer: European commission; 2018.
2. Methods
2.1 Overview

2.2 Research ethics review
2.3 Workshop and systematic review
2.4 Survey
2.5 Working group and refinement of checklist items
3. Results
3.1 Systematic review and preliminary checklist items
3.2 Workshop and survey
3.3 Working group and refinement of items
Characteristic | Operationalization |
---|---|
Certainty in the evidence | High certainty in the quality indicator (evidence supporting it is at low risk of bias, precise, direct = relevant, consistent and without publication bias), also described as “scientifically sound” |
Measuring change | Responsive or sensitive to change (may also be considered under risk of bias) |
Feasibility | Feasible to measure, implement and monitor |
- Piggott T.
- Langendam M.W.
- Parmelli E.
- Adolfsson J.
- Akl E.A.
- Armstrong D.
- et al.
- Piggott T.
- Langendam M.W.
- Parmelli E.
- Adolfsson J.
- Akl E.A.
- Armstrong D.
- et al.
3.4 Characteristics of a proper quality indicator
- Janusch-Roi A.
- Neamţiu L.
- Dimitrova N.
- Ulutürk A.
- García Escribano M.
- Sardanelli F.
- et al.
4. Discussion
4.1 Strengths
4.2 Limitations
4.3 Implications for policy and practice
4.4 Implications for research
5. Conclusions
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Acknowledgments
Appendix A. Supplementary Data
- Appendix 1
- Appendix 2
- Appendix 3
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Funding: This project was funded by the European Commission (CT-EX2016D289038-102) under the umbrella of the European Commission Initiatives on Breast and Colorectal Cancer (ECIBC and ECICC). The funder supported travel to complete this work and reviewed the final manuscript.
Conflicts of interests: MN and IK are employed by the AWMF as methodological advisers for guideline and guideline-based quality indicator development. The AWMF receives continuous grants from the German Cancer Aid for guideline and guideline-based quality indicator development. HJS developed the GIN-McMaster checklist with colleagues, some of which are involved in this work and he is co-chair of the GRADE working group. JB reports grants that support his work from the National Health and Medical Research Council (APP9100002, APP1134459, APP1176620) and the Medical Research Future Fund (APP1178554). HJS, TP, ML received financial support for this work from the European Commission.
Author contributions: TP HS ML EP were responsible for the conception of the work, proposed a first draft of the conceptual checklist, facilitated the workshop and led iterative improvements to the checklist. TP ML EP JA EA DA JB RBP JB MF IK ZL JM LN MN AQ PGR ZSP PW HJS contributed to the discussion, interpretation, reporting of the results and evolution of the conceptual framework; they provided comments on subsequent versions of the article. TP ML EP JA EA DA JB RBP JB MF IK ZL JM LN MN AQ PGR ZSP PW HJS read and approved the final manuscript before submission.
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