| Title： | Primary Care Physician's Guide to Traditional Chinese Patent Medicine for Rheumatoid Arthritis |
| Edition： | Original |
| Classification： | Standard guideline |
| Field： | Comprehensive guideline |
| Countries and regions： | China |
| Guidelines users： | The primary users of this guideline are healthcare professionals working in primary care settings, including general practitioners, traditional Chinese medicine physicians, village doctors, nurses, public health workers, and pharmacists specializing in Chinese medicine. Furthermore, relevant department physicians in county-level hospitals may reference this guideline when handling referred patients from primary care. This guideline can also serve as a reference tool for higher-level medical institutions to provide professional guidance and quality control for primary care facilities, as well as a basis for medical insurance departments to formulate relevant policies. Faculty and students in medical colleges may also use it as teaching and learning material to better understand and prepare for primary care practice. |
| Evidence classification method： | This guideline employs the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) system for assessing the quality of evidence and grading the strength of recommendations. The GRADE approach is widely recognized internationally as a method for evidence grading and recommendation formulation. In terms of evidence quality assessment, the GRADE system categorizes evidence quality into four levels: high, moderate, low, and very low. The initial quality rating is based on study design, with randomized controlled trials considered high-quality evidence and observational studies considered low-quality evidence. The quality is then adjusted based on five downgrading factors (risk of bias, inconsistency, indirectness, imprecision, and publication bias) and three upgrading factors (large magnitude of effect, dose-response gradient, and all plausible confounding would reduce the demonstrated effect). Regarding the strength of recommendations, the GRADE system classifies recommendations as either strong or weak. When formulating recommendations, not only is the quality of evidence considered, but also the balance between benefits and risks, patient values and preferences, and resource utilization. A strong recommendation implies that the guideline development group believes the desirable consequences of an intervention clearly outweigh the undesirable consequences; a weak recommendation suggests that the desirable consequences probably outweigh the undesirable consequences, but there is uncertainty. By utilizing the GRADE system, this guideline aims to provide primary care professionals with transparent, systematic evidence assessment and recommendations to support their decision-making in clinical practice. |
| Development unit： | Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Lanzhou University |
| Registration time: | 2024-09-29 |
| Registration number： | PREPARE-2024CN694 |
| Purpose of the guideline: | This guideline aims to provide standardized and practical clinical guidance on the use of Traditional Chinese Patent Medicine (TCPM) for treating rheumatoid arthritis in primary care settings. By developing this guideline, we hope to enhance the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of primary care physicians for rheumatoid arthritis and standardize the application of TCPM in treating this condition at the primary care level. The guideline also strives to optimize the allocation of primary care medical resources, improve treatment outcomes, and strengthen long-term management and follow-up of rheumatoid arthritis patients in primary care. Furthermore, by clarifying referral criteria, this guideline will promote the implementation of a tiered healthcare delivery system, ultimately leading to improved patient satisfaction and quality of life for rheumatoid arthritis patients in primary care settings. |
Latest registration
