Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) are specific clinical recommendations developed through the translation of the best available research evidence into clear statements regarding treatments for people with various health conditions (Hollon et al., 2014).
CPGs fulfill a range of purposes (Rosenfeld & Shiffman, 2010) including:
- aiding patients, practitioners, and policy makers with proper clinical decision-making
- reducing variation in healthcare treatments
- promoting effective therapy
- discouraging ineffective – or potentially harmful – interventions
- accelerating the translation of research findings into clinical practice
- informing both practitioners and consumers in a concise way about the benefits and challenges associated with a given intervention
CPGs are often conceptualized as the “tip” of the evidence pyramid (see image 1.1)
Content last reviewed: Sept, 2020
