CONSENSUS METHODS IN PRACTICE GUIDELINE DEVELOPMENT - A REVIEW AND DESCRIPTION OF A NEW METHOD

Practice guidelines are an increasingly important means of conveying t o practitioners and administrators the most appropriate methods of tre ating patients. Although the development of practice guidelines relies on scientific evidence, the consensus of expert opinion is an importa nt ingredient, particularly in many key areas of clinical decision mak ing that are insufficiently informed by experimental data. The authors review current methods in the assessment of expert opinion for practi ce guideline development and the problem of the lack of quantification . A new method is presented for quantification of expert opinion on su rveys, and the development of expert consensus practice guidelines fro m the resulting data.