Highlights
- •Perinatal loss is a global health issue with profound psychosocial effects on parents and their families.
- •Current perinatal bereavement care provided by healthcare professionals does not adequately meet the needs of patients.
- •High-quality CPGs can provide reliable evidence about perinatal bereavement care.
- •Our manuscript appraised the methodological quality of the existing CPGs, hoping to improve clinical practice.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to evaluate and analyze the methodological quality of the published
clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for perinatal bereavement care and provide a reference
for implementing best clinical practices.
Methods
We performed a systematic and comprehensive search in five electronic databases (PubMed,
The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wan Fang Database), eight guideline databases,
and six websites of professional organizations from March 2021 to June 2021. Four
researchers used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II)
instrument to appraise the selected CPGs independently. The inter-rater reliability
of AGREE II domains was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient with
95% CI.
Results
We included a total of 8 CPGs. The mean scores of six domains ranged from the lowest
score of 46.61% (editorial independence) to the highest score of 87.85% (clarity of
presentation). Subgroup analysis showed no statistical difference. Each domain achieved
“good” and “very good” intraclass reliability. Two CPGs were deemed as grade A (strongly
recommended), five were rated as grade B (recommended with modifications), and one
was evaluated as grade C (not recommended).
Conclusions
Healthcare professionals in obstetrics and neonatology play an important role in helping
bereaved parents and families to cope with perinatal loss. High-quality CPGs for perinatal
bereavement care can serve as useful resources to improve the quality and outcomes
of clinical practice. More efforts should be made to disseminate the best practices
for perinatal bereavement care. When implementing GCPs in countries or regions with
different backgrounds, professional translations, strict validations, and cultural
adaptations should be taken into account.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 27, 2022
Accepted:
April 10,
2022
Received in revised form:
April 5,
2022
Received:
December 19,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
