APRG member survey to identify priority questions for a living guideline for the pharmacological management of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Abstract

Aims: "Living" guidelines reduce delays in translating new knowledge into practice by updating individual recommendations as soon as relevant new evidence emerges. Our aim was to survey members of the Australian Paediatric Rheumatology Group (APRG) in order to develop a list of priority questions for an Australian guideline for the pharmacological management of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We hypothesise that this will improve the relevance of the recommendations, leading to increased guideline uptake and improved translation of evidence to practice. Method(s): The prioritisation exercise comprises two survey phases. The first survey contained questions about current guideline use and beliefs and invited participants to submit at least 3 questions relevant to the management of JIA. The survey was distributed electronically to all APRG members in January 2021. The final list of questions will be refined to remove redundant questions. A second survey phase will invite APRG members to choose the 10 most important questions and rank them in order of priority. Result(s): Data collection is ongoing. 62 members of the APRG were surveyed. Of the 28 (45%) members who responded, 64% were paediatric rheumatologists or trainees; 43% had greater than 10 years of experience. All respondents use guidelines in their practice (78% sometimes, 22% often); most commonly ACR (78%) and EULAR (74%). 70% would use a guideline integrated into practice software. Barriers to guideline use included, not being up to date (50%) and difficult to access (41%). 85% responded that Australian paediatric rheumatology guidelines are necessary. 134 potential guideline questions have been submitted and will be collated for the second survey phase. Conclusion(s): There is support among APRG members for the development of Australian paediatric rheumatology guidelines. Living guidelines focused on topics of importance to guideline users will facilitate rapid translation of evidence in paediatric rheumatology into practice.