A Systematic Review of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Infectious and Non-infectious Conjunctivitis

Figures & data

Table 1. Exclusion criteria for screening of clinical practice guidelines.

Title and Abstract Screening	Full-text Screening	Quality Appraisal
1) The identified literature was not a clinical practice guideline 2) The guideline was not published in the last ten years 3) The guideline was not in English 4) The guideline was not developed for the selected eye conditions	1) There was commercial funding or unmanaged conflicts of interest 2) Absence of affiliation of authors	1) The average score of the two researchers for Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) items 4, 7, 8, 12, or 22 is less than 3 2) The sum of the average score of the two researchers for all nine AGREE II items (4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 22 and 23) is less than 45

Table 2. Description of Items 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 22, and 23 of Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) tool.

DOMAIN 2. STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT Item 4. The guideline development group includes individuals from all the relevant professional groups.

DOMAIN 3. RIGOUR OF DEVELOPMENT Item 7. Systematic methods were used to search for evidence. Item 8. The criteria for selecting the evidence are clearly described. Item 10. The methods for formulating the recommendations are clearly described. Item 12. There is an explicit link between the recommendations and the supporting evidence. Item 13. The guideline has been externally reviewed by experts prior to its publication.

DOMAIN 4. CLARITY OF PRESENTATION Item 15. The recommendations are specific and unambiguous.

DOMAIN 6. EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE Item 22. The views of the funding body have not influenced the content of the guideline. Item 23. Competing interests of guideline development group members have been recorded and addressed.

Figure 1. Results of the screening process.

Table 3. Selected guidelines and their respect of the criteria used to reach the final choice.

	Guideline	AGREE II Ratings						Topic	Publication Date	Comprehensiveness
		Average of key items
		4	7	8	12	22	4,7,8,10,12,13,15,22,23
1	Ocular Prophylaxis for Gonococcal Ophthalmia Neonatorum^Citation77	6.0	6.5	6.0	7.0	7.0	58.5	Infectious conjunctivitis	2019	Yes
2	Consensus Document on Allergic Conjunctivitis (DECA)^Citation69	6.0	5.5	5.5	5.5	7.0	47.0	Non-infectious conjunctivitis	2015	Yes
3	Conjunctivitis – Infective – NICE^Citation78	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	6.5	61.0	Infectious conjunctivitis	2018	Yes
4	Conjunctivitis – Allergic – NICE^Citation70	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	6.5	61.0	Non-infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
5	Atopic Keratoconjunctivitis^Citation64	6.5	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Non-infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
6	Contact Lens-Associated Papillary Conjunctivitis (CLAPC), Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC)^Citation65	6.5	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Non-infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
7	Conjunctivitis (Acute Allergic)^Citation66	6.0	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Non-infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
8	Conjunctivitis (Bacterial)^Citation71	6.0	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
9	Conjunctivitis (Viral, Non – herpetic)^Citation72	6.0	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
10	Seasonal Allergic Conjunctivitis (Hay Fever Conjunctivitis); Perennial Allergic Conjunctivitis^Citation67	6.0	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Non-infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
11	Conjunctivitis, Chlamydial (Adult Inclusion Conjunctivitis)^Citation73	6.0	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
12	Conjunctivitis Medicamentosa (also Dermatoconjunctivitis Medicamentosa)^Citation68	6.0	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Non-infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
13	Ophthalmia Neonatorum^Citation74	6.0	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
14	Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis (Spring Catarrh)^Citation75	6.0	5.0	3.5	6.5	7.0	49.5	Non-infectious conjunctivitis	2020	Yes
15	Conjunctivitis Preferred Practice Pattern^Citation76	5.5	6.5	4.0	6.5	7.0	51.0	Non-infectious and infectious conjunctivitis	2019	Yes

Note: AGREE II = Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II

NICE = National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

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The College of Optometrists. Seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (hay fever conjunctivitis); perennial allergic conjunctivitis. https://www.college-optometrists.org/guidance/clinical-management-guidelines/seasonal-allergic-conjunctivitis.html ( accessed 12 Nov 2020).

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The College of Optometrists. Conjunctivitis, chlamydial (adult inclusion conjunctivitis). https://www.college-optometrists.org/guidance/clinical-management-guidelines/conjunctivitis-chlamydial.html ( accessed 12 Nov 2020).

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The College of Optometrists. Conjunctivitis medicamentosa (also dermatoconjunctivitis medicamentosa). https://www.college-optometrists.org/guidance/clinical-management-guidelines/conjunctivitis-medicamentosa.html ( accessed 12 Nov 2020).

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The College of Optometrists. Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (spring catarrh). https://www.college-optometrists.org/guidance/clinical-management-guidelines/vernal-keratoconjunctivitis-spring-catarrh-.html ( accessed 12 Nov 2020).

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