Quality Appraisal of Screening Guidelines for Cardiovascular disease Prevention:a scoping review

ABSTRACT Objective Each nation develops a guideline for managing and preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD) based on the available literature and the evidence-based consensus in their guideline’s recommendations. The goal of this review is to appraise the quality of many guidelines recommended by several international organizations for the early detection and prevention of CVD. Methods We conducted a scoping review using a few guideline-specific databases using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) as the reporting guideline for this review. We used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument to rate the methodological quality and rigorousness of the included guidelines for CVD prevention and early detection. Results Out of the 2,466 guidelines identified by our search, based on our eligibility criteria, we included a total of 20 distinct guidelines globally focused on screening for CVD prevention and early detection. ( 70% ) of these guidelines were classified as "strongly recommended" while only ( 90% ) were classified as just "recommended". The AGREE II appraisal domains with the highest median scores (percentile 25 th , 75 th ) were “Clarity of Presentation” 92 % (81, 95.5), followed by Applicability 88 % (73, 93). The Rigour of Development and Editorial Independence were the lowest scores with a median of 78 % (66.5, 84) and 75 % (60.5, 92). Conclusions Using AGREE II quality appraisal tool, we provided a critical quality appraisal of several international CVD prevention guidelines and reveal opportunities to improve the CVD prevention guidelines’ quality. What is already known in this review? Each community develops a guideline for screening and managing CVD prevention based on the current evidence and evidence-based consensus. AGREE II tool is an internationally standardized instrument to report the rigorousness of development, transparency, and methodological quality of the clinical practice guidelines. What this review adds This review provided a critical quality appraisal of several international CVD prevention guidelines. The highest AGREE II domain median score was “Clarity of Presentation” while the least domains were “Editorial Independence” and “Rigour of Development”. 70% of these guidelines were classified as "strongly recommended". How this review might affect research, practice, or policy This review provided a critical quality appraisal of many CVD prevention guidelines and revealed opportunities to improve CVD prevention guidelines’ quality.