Living systematic reviews: 4. Living guideline recommendations.
Open accessAbstract
While it is important for the evidence supporting practice guidelines to be current, that is often not the case. The advent of living systematic reviews has made the concept of "living guidelines" realistic, with the promise to provide timely, up-to-date and high-quality guidance to target users. We define living guidelines as an optimization of the guideline development process to allow updating individual recommendations as soon as new relevant evidence becomes available. A major implication of that definition is that the unit of update is the individual recommendation and not the whole guideline. We then discuss when living guidelines are appropriate, the workflows required to support them, the collaboration between living systematic reviews and living guideline teams, the thresholds for changing recommendations, and potential approaches to publication and dissemination. The success and sustainability of the concept of living guideline will depend on those of its major pillar, the living systematic review. We conclude that guideline developers should both experiment with and research the process of living guidelines.
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This living systematic review follows published guidance for such reviews and for how expedited 'living' recommendations should be formulated where relevant.
“This living systematic review ( Figure 1) follows published guidance for such reviews and for how expedited ‘living’ recommendations should be formulated where relevant ( Akl et al., 2017; Elliott et al., 2017).”
From The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-harm and suicidal behaviour: update of living systematic review (2021) · cites this paper as Akl et al., 2017
This living systematic review follows published guidance for living systematic reviews.
“This living systematic review ( Figure 1) follows published guidance for such reviews and for how expedited ‘living’ recommendations should be formulated where relevant ( Akl et al., 2017; Elliott et al., 2017).”
From The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-harm and suicidal behaviour: a living systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as Akl et al., 2017
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References 27 · Cited by 328
- Authors
- Akl, E. A., Meerpohl, J. J., Elliott, J., Kahale, L. A., Schünemann, H. J., Agoritsas, T., Hilton, J., Perron, C., Akl, E., Hodder, R., Pestridge, C., Albrecht, L., Horsley, T., Platt, J., Armstrong, R., Nguyen, P. H., Plovnick, R., Arno, A., Ivers, N., Quinn, G., Au, A., Johnston, R., Rada, G., Bagg, M., Jones, A., Ravaud, P., Boden, C., Kahale, L., Richter, B., Boisvert, I., Keshavarz, H., Ryan, R., Brandt, L., Kolakowsky-Hayner, S. A., Salama, D., Brazinova, A., Nagraj, S. K., Salanti, G., Buchbinder, R., Lasserson, T., Santaguida, L., Champion, C., Lawrence, R., Santesso, N., Chandler, J., Les, Z., Schünemann, H. J., Charidimou, A., Leucht, S., Shemilt, I., Chou, R., Low, N., Sherifali, D., Churchill, R., Maas, A., Siemieniuk, R., Cnossen, M. C., MacLehose, H., Simmonds, M., Cossi, M.-J., Macleod, M., Skoetz, N., Counotte, M., Marshall, I., Soares-Weiser, K., Craigie, S., Marshall, R., Srikanth, V., Dahm, P., Martin, N., Sullivan, K., Danilkewich, A., Martínez García, L., Synnot, A., Danko, K., Mavergames, C., Taylor, M., Donoghue, E., Maxwell, L. J., Thayer, K., Dressler, C., McAuley, J., Thomas, J., Egan, C., McDonald, S., Tritton, R., Elliott, J., McKenzie, J., Tsafnat, G., Elliott, S. A., Meerpohl, J., Tugwell, P., Etxeandia, I., Merner, B., Turgeon, A., Featherstone, R., Mondello, S., Turner, T., Foxlee, R., Morley, R., van Valkenhoef, G., Garner, P., Munafo, M., Vandvik, P., Gerrity, M., Munn, Z., Wallace, B., Glasziou, P., Murano, M., Wallace, S. A., Green, S., Newman, K., Watts, C., Grimshaw, J., Nieuwlaat, R., Weeks, L., Gurusamy, K., Nikolakopoulou, A., Weigl, A., Haddaway, N., Noel-Storr, A., Wells, G., Hartling, L., O'Connor, A., Wiercioch, W., Hayden, J., Page, M., Wolfenden, L., Helfand, M., Pahwa, M., Yepes Nuñez, J. J., Higgins, J., Pardo, J. P., Yost, J., Hill, S., & Pearson, L.
- Affiliations
- Monash University (AU)
- ORCID
- Meerpohl, Joerg J.
- Agoritsas, Thomas
- Hilton, John
- Hodder, Rebecca
- Albrecht, Lauren
- Horsley, Tanya
- Armstrong, Rebecca
- Arno, Anneliese
- Ivers, Noah
- Johnston, Renea
- Bagg, Matthew
- Jones, Arwel
- Ravaud, Philippe
- Boden, Catherine
- Boisvert, Isabelle
- Keshavarz, Homa
- Ryan, Rebecca
- Brandt, Linn
- Nagraj, Sumanth Kumbargere
- Salanti, Georgia
- Buchbinder, Rachelle
- Lasserson, Toby
- Lawrence, Rebecca
- Santesso, Nancy
- Charidimou, Andreas
- Leucht, Stefan
- Shemilt, Ian
- Chou, Roger
- Low, Nicola
- Sherifali, Diana
- Churchill, Rachel
- Maas, Andrew
- Siemieniuk, Reed
- Cnossen, Maryse C.
- Simmonds, Mark
- Macleod, Malcolm
- Skoetz, Nicole
- Counotte, Michel
- Srikanth, Velandai
- Dahm, Philipp
- Martin, Nicole
- Sullivan, Katrina
- Synnot, Anneliese
- Mavergames, Chris
- Taylor, Mark
- Donoghue, Emma
- Maxwell, Lara J.
- Dressler, Corinna
- McAuley, James
- Thomas, James
- McDonald, Steve
- McKenzie, Joanne
- Tsafnat, Guy
- Elliott, Sarah A.
- Tugwell, Peter
- Merner, Bronwen
- Turgeon, Alexis
- Featherstone, Robin
- Mondello, Stefania
- Turner, Tari
- Morley, Richard
- Garner, Paul
- Munafo, Marcus
- Vandvik, Per
- Gerrity, Martha
- Munn, Zachary
- Wallace, Byron
- Glasziou, Paul
- Murano, Melissa
- Wallace, Sheila A.
- Green, Sally
- Newman, Kristine
- Grimshaw, Jeremy
- Nieuwlaat, Robby
- Gurusamy, Kurinchi
- Nikolakopoulou, Adriani
- Weigl, Aaron
- Haddaway, Neal
- Noel-Storr, Anna
- Hartling, Lisa
- O'Connor, Annette
- Wiercioch, Wojtek
- Hayden, Jill
- Page, Matthew
- Wolfenden, Luke
- Helfand, Mark
- Pahwa, Manisha
- Higgins, Julian
- Pardo, Jordi Pardo
- Yost, Jennifer
- Hill, Sophie
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-11
- Volume
- 91
- Pages
- 47-53
- ISSN
- 0895-4356 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2754128910
- Cited by
- 328
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 51 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 2.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Bond University Research Portal (Bond University) (submittedVersion)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Griffith Research Online (Griffith University, Queensland, Australia) (submittedVersion)
- NOVA (University of Newcastle Australia) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC/L000970/1)
- Medical Research Council (MR/N015665/1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Clinical practice guidelines implementation
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Sciences Research and Education
- Keywords
- living systematic review, living guidelines, guideline recommendations, evidence updating, guideline development
- MeSH terms
- Decision Making, Humans, Review Literature as Topic, Practice Guidelines as Topic
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