Start date January 2011
Promoter
The Catalan Agency for Health Information, Assessment and Quality (CAHIAQ), has established an agreement with the Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Catalonia (CEM-Cat) through the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (FEM) to provide services for the development of a clinical guideline based on the care of patients of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The CEM-Cat is a high specialization centre created by the Healthcare Department of Generalitat de Catalunya, the Government of Catalonia, and FEM. This Guideline is the result of the priorization carried on by the Medical Assessment Council that worked in the development of this project
Funding
The main part of the founding is based on an unrestricted grant from NovartisŽ Pharmaceutical Company (Spain) to FEM/CEM-Cat to implement the guideline. The remainder will be provided by FEM/CEM-Cat. Further information can be requested from CAHIAQ.
Aims and scope
- To develop a clinical practice guideline in order to issue recommendations that can guide healthcare professionals in the clinical decision making process and to reduce the variability related to the care attention of MS patients.
- To provide useful information to the patients their families and caregivers to enable them to understand the scientifically assessed interventions and to get actively involved in the process of care of the disease.
Public consultation on the scope guideline
In the period 16th to 31st March 2011 a web-based consultation process was undertaken on the aims of the project and drafted scope document. The aim was to gather opinions from people not directly involved in the project to ensure that all relevant aspects of the care process of the disease had been considered in the project related to the attention and care of MS patients.
Guideline development group
This group is made up of a wide range of professionals involved in MS, as well as representatives of several Spanish scientific societies and patient associations.
Methodology
Evidence-based clinical guideline. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach will be used to issue recommendations. The guideline methodology is detailed in the Methodological Manual of the Spanish National Healthcare System available on http://portal.guiasalud.es/emanuales/elaboracion/index-02.html .
A training workshop organized by the CAHIAQ and the Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre entitled Development of Recommendations based on the GRADE System and its Application to the Multiple Sclerosis Guideline was held on 24th and 31st May 2011 given to the members of the clinical assessment team. This activity was accredited by the Catalan Council for Continuous Medical Education with code 09/03222-MD and 0.5 credit points.
Planned end date
First quarter 2012
Contact person: Maria-Dolors Estrada, M.D. (destrada@aatrm.catsalut.cat)
Additional information: Cover letter (pdf, 90 kb)
