Developing a Clinical Diabetes Guideline in Diabetes Research Network in Iran

Abstract

Development of evidence-based clinical guidelines to raising standards of medical care in diabetes is a core element of coping with the global diabetes epidemic. The purpose of this study was to develop a systematic clinical diabetes guideline from the latest scientific evidences and also to localize its recommendations according to regional and cultural needs of our society. Searches were conducted using NICE, SIGN, WDPCP, IDF, JDC, ADA, AACE, ICSI, CDA, AMDA, IDC, NyDoH guidelines which were examined and criticized and scored using Agree method. Guidelines which got higher score in some important areas of Agree scale including: rigor of development, clarity and comprehensiveness of the recommendations and applicability, especially in the climatic conditions of our country were selected. The existing recommendations were extracted by committee members and supporting evidences of each recommendation were determined based on the sources listed in the clinical guideline. Recommendations grading were classified from grade A to D based on the quality of their supporting evidences (BEL1-5). This guideline covered all areas related to diabetes including screening and diagnosis, lifestyle modification and patient education, management, complications and hypoglycemia. Regarding capacities of this guideline and lack of comprehensive and updated guidelines in our country and region, it is suggested that designing a pilot study to implement this Learner-centered guideline and finding its weaknesses can lead to patient care improvement and also propel us towards our goal to design a comprehensive guideline in compliance with regional and national needs in Middle East.