Ethnic specific recommendations in clinical practice guidelines: a first exploratory comparison between guidelines from the USA, Canada, the UK, and the Netherlands

• Published in: Quality & Safety in Health Care Vol. 12; no. 5; pp. 353 - 358
• Main Authors: Manna, D R, Bruijnzeels, M A, Mokkink, H G A, Berg, M
• Format: Journal Article Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.10.2003; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group; BMJ Group
• Subjects: Agreements; Asthma; Asthma - ethnology; Asthma - therapy; Canada; Care and treatment; Clinical medicine; clinical practice guidelines; Cultural differences; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - ethnology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - therapy; Disease; Ethnic Groups; ethnicity; Evidence-Based Medicine; Health administration; Health care; Health Services Research; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - ethnology; Hypertension - therapy; Mortality; Netherlands; Original; Practice Guidelines as Topic; primary care; Primary Health Care - standards; quality of care; Studies; United Kingdom; United States; United Kingdom > UK; Netherlands
• ISSN: 1475-3898; 2044-5415; 1475-3901; 2044-5423
• DOI: 10.1136/qhc.12.5.353

Objectives: To investigate whether clinical practice guidelines in different countries take ethnic differences between patients into consideration and to assess the scientific foundation of such ethnic specific recommendations. Design: Analysis of the primary care sections of clinical practice guidelines. Setting: Primary care practice guidelines for type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and asthma developed in the USA, Canada, the UK, and the Netherlands. Main outcome measures: Enumeration of the ethnic specific information and recommendations in the guidelines, and the scientific basis and strength of this evidence. Results: Different guidelines do address ethnic differences between patients, but to a varying extent. The USA guidelines contained the most ethnic specific statements and the Dutch guidelines the least. Most ethnic specific statements were backed by scientific evidence, usually arising from descriptive studies or narrative reviews. Conclusion: The attention given to ethnic differences between patients in clinical guidelines varies between countries. Guideline developers should be aware of the potential problems of ignoring differences in ethnicity.