Appraisal of clinical practice guidelines for ischemic stroke management in Chinese medicine with appraisal of guidelines for research and evaluation instrument: A systematic review

Objective: To systematically review the clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for ischemic stroke in Chinese medicine (CM) with the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument. Methods: CM CPGs for ischemic stroke were searched in 5 online databases and hand-searches in CPGrelated handbooks published from January 1990 to December 2012. The CPGs were categorized into evidence based (EB) guideline, consensus based with no explicit consideration of evidence based (CB-EB) guideline and consensus based (CB) guideline according to the development method. Three reviewers independently appraised the CPGs based on AGREE II instrument, and compared the CPGs' recommendations on CM pattern classification and treatment. Results: Five CM CPGs for ischemic stroke were identified and included. Among them, one CPG was EB guideline, two were CB guidelines and two were CB-EB guidelines. The quality score of the EB guideline was higher than those of the CB-EB and CB guidelines. Five CM patterns in the CPGs were recommended in the EB CPG. The comprehensive protocol of integrative Chinese and Western medicine recommended in the EB CPG was mostly recommended for ischemic stroke in the CPGs. The recommendations varied based on the CM patterns. Conclusion: The quality of EB CPG was higher than those of CB and CB-EB CPGs in CM for ischemic stroke and integrative approaches were included in CPGs as major interventions.