Improving the use of research evidence in guideline development: 13. Applicability, transferability and adaptation

Schünemann, Holger J; Fretheim, Atle; Oxman, Andrew D

Similarly, adaptable evidence profiles [33] based on new or existing high quality systematic reviews that include information on critical outcomes should also be prepared or coordinated centrally. Applying the criteria listed in table 1 and flagging important factors that influence the applicability of guidelines in evidence profiles could facilitate local adaptation and help groups to replace the flagged elements with locally appropriate information. Because resources for guidelines development are limited, particularly in LMIC, support for local adaptation of guidelines should also be supported centrally, by WHO headquarters or by regional offices. Given that WHO also has limited capacity, consideration should be given to doing this collaboratively with other organizations and to developing capacity; e.g. through the development of frameworks and tools, such as those being developed by the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN) Knowledge Plus Program [20], GIN [31] and others; through training; through networks such as the Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) [38] , and by learning from the experience of organizations around the world that are engaged in supporting evidenceinformed health policies in specific settings [39] .