Guidelines for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements intended to assist practitioners and patients about making and understanding care decisions for specific clinical circumstances. The evidence base should be obtained using an unbiased and transparent process of systematically reviewing and appraising published clinical research, which is then synthesized into recommendations for clinical practice. There is a hierarchy of evidence involved, from meta-analysis or systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), to case-controlled or cohort studies, to expert opinion. Evidence-based guidelines have largely replaced consensus statements, which typically involves a group of experts meeting and producing a series of recommendations based on the consensus of the group at that time. However, these can be prone to bias depending on the opinions of those involved in the process, and often would be based on a limited literature review which might miss key publications, especially if the results are negative.