A growing number of clinical practice guidelines are being developed for neurological diseases, and they have the potential to benefit patients, clinicians, policymakers and payers. However, the effectiveness of these guidelines has not been evaluated, so we do not yet know whether they improve patient outcomes in a real-world setting.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Grimshaw, J. M. et al. Effectiveness and efficiency of guideline dissemination and implementation strategies. Health Technol. Assess. 8, 6 (2004).
Chan, A. H. Y. et al. Effect of electronic adherence monitoring on adherence and outcomes in chronic conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One 17, e0265715 (2022).
Kwan, J. & Sandercock, P. In-hospital care pathways for stroke. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 4, CD002924 (2004).
Trimarchi, L., Caruso, R., Magon, G., Odone, A. & Arrigoni, C. Clinical pathways and patient-related outcomes in hospital-based settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Acta Biomed. 92, e2021093 (2021).
Setkowski, K., Boogert, K., Hoogendoorn, A. W., Gilissen, R. & van Balkom, A. J. L. M. Guidelines improve patient outcomes in specialised mental health care: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 144, 246–258 (2021).
Donnellan, C., Sweetman, S. & Shelley, E. Health professionals’ adherence to stroke clinical guidelines: a review of the literature. Health Policy 111, 245–263 (2013).
Osterberg, L. & Blaschke, T. Adherence to medication. N. Engl. J. Med. 353, 487–497 (2005).
Pereira, V. C., Silva, S. N., Carvalho, V. K. S., Zanghelini, F. & Barreto, J. O. M. Strategies for the implementation of clinical practice guidelines in public health: an overview of systematic reviews. Health Res. Policy Syst. 20, 13 (2022).
Guideline Production Group of the European Academy of Neurology et al. Guidelines should be guidelines: time to leave the terms “consensus” and “position” for other purposes. Eur. J. Neurol. 28, 2461–2466 (2021).
El Baz, N. et al. Are the outcomes of clinical pathways evidence-based? A critical appraisal of clinical pathway evaluation research. J. Eval. Clin. Pract. 13, 920–929 (2007).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
M.A.L. and J.C. are co-chairs of the Guideline Production Group of the European Academy of Neurology.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leone, M.A., Costa, J. Are guidelines a useful tool for improving outcomes in neurology?. Nat Rev Neurol 18, 447–448 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-022-00687-w
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-022-00687-w