Critical Appraisal of the Quality of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis

Background and Objective: Inappropriate use of stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) is common in many hospitals. High-quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) produce better patient outcomes and promote cost-effective clinical care. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of CPGs for SUP. Methods: A search was conducted for SUP CPGs using PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Literature database (CBM), guideline websites and Google (until March 1, 2015). The quality of CPGs was independently assessed by two assessors using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument, and the specific recommendations in the CPGs were summarized and evaluated. Results: A total of 7 CPGs for SUP were included. The highest median scores were in the clarity of presentation domain (89%), and the lowest median scores were in the editorial independence domain (0%). The rigor of development, stakeholder involvement, and applicability domains all scored below 40%. The specific recommendations for SUP varied, and the recommendations were inconsistent with the supporting evidence. Conclusions: The overall quality of CPGs for SUP was relatively low, and no specific SUP CPG can be recommended. Not only should the AGREE II instrument be used to determine the quality of CPGs, but also the recommendations should be appraised based on supporting evidence, which would contribute to the development of high-quality CPGs.