BMJ Open · 4 authors, 3 centres
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This protocol describes methods for a systematic review that will assess how European clinical practice guidelines in internal medicine address sex- and gender-related content in terminology and recommendations. No results are reported, as the review has not yet been conducted.
This protocol outlines a systematic review that will analyse clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) published by European internal medicine organisations between 2012 and 2022 for the incorporation of sex-related and gender-related knowledge. CPGs will be identified through a two-step approach: direct contact with organisations and a PubMed search. Prespecified keywords will be applied via machine-assisted text mining to classify guidelines as text-positive or text-negative. Two independent reviewers will then manually assess identified texts using a specifically developed checklist, evaluating sex- and gender-related terminology quantitatively and qualitatively, as well as the integration of sex- and gender-specific information into recommendation development. Data synthesis will combine descriptive statistics with qualitative contextual analysis. The authors acknowledge inherent selection bias in the choice of organisations and publication bias arising from guideline committee decisions. No empirical findings are presented, and no ethical approval was required.
