A systematic review of clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of bronchiolitis.

Amir Kirolos, Sara Manti, Rachel Blacow, Gabriel Tse, Thomas Wilson, Martin Lister, Stseve Cunningham, Alasdair Campbell, Harish Nair, Rachel M Reeves, Ricardo M Fernandes, Harry Campbell, RESCEU Investigator.


Abstract

Background
Bronchiolitis is the leading cause of hospital admission for respiratory disease among infants aged <1 year. Clinical practice guidelines can benefit patients by reducing the performance of unnecessary tests, hospital admissions, and treatment with lack of a supportive evidence base. This review aimed to identify current clinical practice guidelines worldwide, appraise their methodological quality, and discuss variability across guidelines for the diagnosis and management of bronchiolitis.

Methods
A systematic literature review of electronic databases EMBASE, Global Health, and Medline was performed. Manual searches of the gray literature, national pediatric society websites, and guideline-focused databases were performed, and select international experts were contacted to identify additional guidelines. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation assessment tool was used by 2 independent reviewers to appraise each guideline.

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