2018 年 88 巻 Extra1 号 p. E19-E26
Following the publication of the Minds Handbook in 2014, the quality of Japanese clinical practice guidelines improved substantially. We created a procedure for developing evidence-based guidelines in the occupational health field that can be used by individual organizations in Japan.
Organizing the guidelines task forces and choosing the key health issues are essential initial steps. Next, it is important to use the population, intervention, control, and outcomes (PICO) format with elements composed of review questions (RQ) for occupational health practice. When high-quality guidance or systematic reviews exist with concordant inclusion criteria and PICO, adaptation can be considered, and recommendations that reflect domestic conditions can be formulated. When no appropriate systematic review exists, a new and transparent systematic review of randomized control trials (RCTs) should be performed. Before publication, collecting public comments and creating an external review board ensure that various opinions are reflected in the final draft, especially for recommendations.
The development of occupational health guidelines differs from clinical practice guidelines because of corporate preferences, particularly regarding cost and resources, and the choice of literature databases. Although there are few RCTs in the Japanese occupational health field, developing evidence-based guidelines may help determine which future research questions should be prioritized in Japan.
