Development of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines: a model project integrating external evidence apd clinical expertise

Background: Internationally, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines ha ve been established for several years. In Germany, they are now gaining inc reasing 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 searche d and evaluated according to the criteria of the Agency of Health Care Poli cy and Research (AHCPR). Through cooperation with clinical experts, this ev idence has been transferred into practicable recommendations. In addition, acceptance of guideline users and patients was improved by appling this met hod. Conclusion: Evidence-based guidelines are considered as an appropriate tool to assist medical decision-making of all stakeholders involved. The proces s will be demonstrated developing an evidence-based guideline for obesity t reatment.