Practice guidelines by specialist societies are surprisingly deficient

Luciana Ballini, Roberto Grilli Agenzia Sanitaria Regionale Emilia-Romagna, Bologna, Italy Emails: [email protected]; [email protected] References 1 Grilli R, Magrini N, Penna A, Liberati A. Practice guidelines developed by specialty societies: the need for a critical appraisal. Lancet 2000; 355: 103–6. 2 Shaneyfelt TM, Mayo-Smith MF, Rothwangl J. Are guidelines following guidelines? The methodological quality of clinical practice guidelines in the peer-reviewed medical literature. JAMA 1999; 281: 1900–5. 3 Minhas R. Eminence-based guidelines: a quality assessment of the second Joint British Societies’ guidelines on the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Int J Clin Pract 2007; 61: 1137–44. 4 Grol R, Jones R. Twenty years of implementation research. Fam Pract 2000; 17 (Suppl. 1): S32–5. 5 Grimshaw J, McAuley L, Alderson P et al. Systematic Reviews of the effectiveness of quality improvement strategies and programs. Qual Saf Health Care 2003; 12: 298–303.