Using socioeconomic evidence in clinical practice guidelines

Abstract

Role of guidelines Guidelines need to recognise the problems associated with low socioeconomic position Credit: STEVE RUBIN/THE IMAGE WORKS/TOPFOTO Developers of guidelines for clinical practice attempt to identify, appraise, and collate the best evidence to ensure that the highest quality information is available for clinicians and patients. To date, clinical practice guidelines have been informed by clinical and, sometimes, economic evidence.9 10 The most robust evidence is considered to come from randomised controlled trials, but the results of suchtrials may not always be relevant and applicable to the needs of all groups in the population, particularly those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Clinical practice guidelines have the potential to increase health inequalities by improving the health of the relatively health advantaged more readily than that of the relatively disadvantaged. Recognising this gap, Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council commissioned a handbook to inform developers of guidelines about ways to access, review, and collate evidence on the effect of socioeconomic position and apply that evidence when developing guidelines for clinical practice.11 Footnotes Contributors and sources The authors have qualifications and experience in public health medicine, biostatistics, health economics, social science, journalism, nursing, psychology, epidemiology, and clinical medicine. Competing interests RA and TJ were members of the NHMRC Health Advisory Committee for the 2000-2003 triennium.