Adolopment of clinical practice guidelines and creation of referral pathways for psychiatric conditions in Pakistan.
expert_opinion · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38486880.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.lansea.2024.100387 and PMC identifier 10938165.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent in Pakistan and burdens the scarce number of psychiatrists present in the country. The establishment of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (EBCPGs) and primary-care referral pathways within the local context is imperative to make the process efficient. In this Health Policy, we aimed to develop EBCPGs and primary-care referral pathways that are specific to Pakistan's primary-care setting, with the aim of facilitating the management of psychiatric conditions. Ten EBCPGs were created through the GRADE-ADOLOPMENT process; two recommendations were adopted with minor changes, 43 were excluded, and all others were adopted without any changes. Ten primary-care referral pathways for managing ten psychiatric disorders were created and 23 recommendations were added which will help to bridge the gap in care provision. These psychiatric referral pathways and EBCPGs will bring Pakistan's healthcare system a step closer to achieving optimal health outcomes for patients.