ArticleHealth research policy and systems2019
Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES) for Guidelines: Paper 1 - Using qualitative evidence synthesis to inform guideline scope and develop qualitative findings statements.
Article in Health research policy and systems, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Guideline
- A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies of alopecia: Managing identity and appearance changes.British journal of health psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Living with pain-a systematic review on patients' subjective experiences.Systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Community views on active case finding for tuberculosis in low- and middle-income countries: a qualitative evidence synthesis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Exploring the experiences of women living with metastatic breast cancer [MBC]: A systematic review of qualitative evidence.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- A qualitative systematic review of the role of families in supporting communication in people with dementia.International journal of language & communication disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Qualitative evidence syntheses of attitudes and preferences to inform guidelines on infant feeding in the context of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) transmission risk.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions to support the resilience and mental health of frontline health and social care professionals during and after a disease outbreak, epidemic or pandemic: a mixed methods systematic review.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic review of the burden of hypertension, access to services and patient views of hypertension in humanitarian crisis settings.BMJ global health · 2020Pooled it
- What are the implications of Zika Virus for infant feeding? A synthesis of qualitative evidence concerning Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS) and comparable conditions.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Pooled it
- The relationship between palliative psychiatry and assisted dying: a scoping review.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Review
- Evidence-to-Decision Frameworks: Enhancing the Quality and Rigour of Guidelines and Recommendations.Clinical and public health guidelines · 2026Article
- Expert stakeholders on the role of qualitative research in World Health Organisation guidelines.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- Conducting evidence synthesis and developing evidence-based advice in public health and beyond: A scoping review and map of methods guidance.Research synthesis methods · 2026Article
- Navigating uncertainty in evidence-informed decision-making for traditional, complementary and integrative medicine: An updated critical interpretive review.Integrative medicine research · 2026Review
- Population-based cancer screening access needs of disabled people: A qualitative evidence synthesis.Journal of intellectual disabilities : JOID · 2026Review
- What happens to qualitative studies initially presented as conference abstracts: A survey among study authors.Research synthesis methods · 2025Article
- Barriers and Facilitators of Nurses' Involvement in Guideline Development and Adaptation: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis Protocol.Clinical and public health guidelines · 2025Article
- Developing the 2023 WHO guideline on wasting and nutritional oedema in infants and children: key reflections on processes and methods.BMJ global health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWHO has recognised the need to ensure that guideline processes are transparent and evidence based, and that the resulting recommendations are relevant and applicable. Along with decision-making criteria that require findings from effectiveness reviews, WHO is increasingly using evidence derived from qualitative evidence syntheses (QES) to inform the values, acceptability, equity and feasibility implications of its recommendations. This is the first in a series of three papers examining the use of QES in developing clinical and health systems guidelines.
methodsWHO convened a group of methodologists involved in developing recent (2010-2018) guidelines that were informed by QES. Using a pragmatic and iterative approach that included feedback from WHO staff and other stakeholders, the group reflected on, discussed and identified key methods and research implications from designing QES and using the resulting findings in guideline development. Our aim in this paper is to (1) describe and discuss how the findings of QES can inform the scope of a guideline and (2) develop findings for key guideline decision-making criteria.
resultsQES resulted in the addition of new outcomes that are directly relevant to service users, a stronger evidence base for decisions about how much effective interventions and related outcomes are valued by stakeholders in a range of contexts, and a more complete database of summary evidence for guideline panels to consider, linked to decisions about values, acceptability, feasibility and equity.
conclusionsRigorously conducted QES can be a powerful means of improving the relevance of guidelines, and of ensuring that the concerns of stakeholders, at all levels of the healthcare system and from a wide range of settings, are taken into account at all stages of the process.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.