Adapting clinical guidelines to take account of multimorbidity

Guthrie, B., Payne, K., Alderson, P., McMurdo, M.E.T. and Mercer, S.W. (2012) Adapting clinical guidelines to take account of multimorbidity. British Medical Journal, 345(oct04), e6341-e6341. (doi: 10.1136/bmj.e6341)

Abstract

Most people with a chronic condition have multimorbidity, but clinical guidelines almost entirely focus on single conditions. It will never be possible to have good evidence for every possible combination of conditions, but guidelines could be made more useful for people with multimorbidity if they were delivered in a format that brought together relevant recommendations for different chronic conditions and identified synergies, cautions, and outright contradictions. We highlight the problem that multimorbidity poses to clinicians and patients using guidelines for single conditions and propose ways of making them more useful for people with multimorbidity.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mercer, Professor Stewart
• Authors: Guthrie, B., Payne, K., Alderson, P., McMurdo, M.E.T., and Mercer, S.W.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > General Practice and Primary Care
• Journal Name: British Medical Journal
• Journal Abbr.: BMJ
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• ISSN: 0959-535X
• ISSN (Online): 1756-1833
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 The Authors
• First Published: First published in BMJ 345:e6341
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence