[Development of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines; a model project integrating external evidence and clinical expertise].

BACKGROUND: Internationally, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines have been established for several years. In Germany, they are now gaining increasing importance. OWN STUDIES: The Institute of Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Cologne has developed a mostly standardized process for evidence-based guideline development. This process has been implemented in such a way that reproducibility, validity and practicability of guidelines can be assured: evidence from research (external evidence) has been searched and evaluated according to the criteria of the Agency of Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR). Through cooperation with clinical experts, this evidence has been transferred into practicable recommendations. In addition, acceptance of guideline users and patients was improved by applying this method.
CONCLUSION: Evidence-based guidelines are considered as an appropriate tool to assist medical decision-making of all stakeholders involved. The process will be demonstrated developing an evidence-based guideline for obesity treatment.