Skip to Main Content
Remote Access Library Hours

Literature Searching

What Are Practice Guidelines?

Practice guidelines are called several different things:  clinical practice guidelines, practice guidelines, CPGs, or just guidelines.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) offers several definitions of clinical practice guidelines:
"Statements that include recommendations, intended to optimize patient care, that are informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of the benefits and harms of alternative care options."  (From Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Standards for Developing Trustworthy Clinical Practice Guidelines; Graham R, Mancher M, Miller Wolman D, et al., editors. Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209539/doi: 10.17226/13058)
“Clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances” (Institute of Medicine, 1990). https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/providers/clinicalpractice
Practice guidelines are typically developed and published by third party associations and organizations in the health care field.  

Searching Databases for Practice Guidelines

You can easily find practice guidelines by using various OUWB databases:

Appraising the Quality of Practice Guidelines

Websites:

Journal Articles: