Guidelines International Network

Standards for Clinical Practice Guidelines

Title of the Guideline Treatment of Hypertension in Adults Over Age 60 to Higher vs. Lower
Targets: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the American College of
Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians

Name of the American College of Physicians

Developing
Organisation

Publication Date January 17, 2017

Effective August 2013, G-I-N is requesting voluntary reporting on the G-I-N Guideline
Standards1 when a guideline is submitted for inclusion in the G-I-N Library.

Is your organisation willing to complete the form to provide information to a reader about
your guideline?

YES ☒
NO ☐

If Yes, please complete the checklist on the next page.

The Guidelines International Network is a Scottish Guarantee Company incorporated under Company No. SC243691
Registered as a Scottish Charity No. SC034047
Registered Office: J. & H. Mitchell W.S., 51 Atholl Road, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5BU, UK

Qaseem A, Forland F, Macbeth F, Ollenschläger G, Phillips S, van der Wees P. Guidelines

International Network: toward international standards for clinical practice guidelines. Annals of
Internal Medicine. 2012;156(7):525-31. https://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1103747
G-I-N Standards & Description1 Standard If Yes, Page
Achieved? number(s)/document
where the information is
available

Composition of Guideline Development Group See ACP Methods paper

(citation under additional
Guideline development panel includes diverse and
relevant stakeholders, such as health
comments)
☐ YES
professionals, methodologists, experts on a topic,
☐ NO
and patients.
X Somewhat

Decision-making Process See ACP Methods paper

(citation under additional
Guideline describes the process used to reach
X YES comments)
consensus among the panel members and, if
☐ NO
applicable, approval by the sponsoring
organisation. This process was established before ☐ Somewhat
the start of guideline development.

Conflicts of Interest (disclosure) See Disclosure of Interests

X YES and Management of
Guideline includes disclosure of the financial and Conflicts under Author,
☐ NO
nonfinancial conflicts of interest for members of Article, and Disclosure
the guideline development group. ☐ Somewhat
Information

See methods paper

Conflicts of Interest (resolution) See section, Author, Article,
X YES and Disclosure Information >
Guideline describes how any identified conflicts Disclosure of Interests and
☐ NO
were recorded and resolved. Management of Conflicts
☐ Somewhat

The Guidelines International Network is a Scottish Guarantee Company incorporated under Company No. SC243691
Registered as a Scottish Charity No. SC034047
Registered Office: J. & H. Mitchell W.S., 51 Atholl Road, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5BU, UK

Qaseem A, Forland F, Macbeth F, Ollenschläger G, Phillips S, van der Wees P. Guidelines

International Network: toward international standards for clinical practice guidelines. Annals of
Internal Medicine. 2012;156(7):525-31. https://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1103747
G-I-N Standards & Description1 Standard If Yes, page
Achieved? number(s)/document
where the information is
available

Scope of a Guideline See section, Guideline Focus

and Target Population
Guideline specifies its objective(s) and scope.
X YES
☐ NO
☐ Somewhat
Methods See section, Methods
X YES
Guideline clearly describes the methods used for See Appendix
☐ NO
the guideline development in detail.
☐ Somewhat
See See ACP Methods
paper (citation under
additional comments)
Evidence Reviews See section, Methods >
X YES Systematic Review of the
Guideline uses systematic evidence review Evidence
☐ NO
methods to identify and evaluate evidence related
to the guideline topic. ☐ Somewhat
See Appendix
Guideline Recommendations See section,
X YES Recommendations for
Guideline recommendation clearly stated and rationale following each
☐ NO
based on scientific evidence of benefits; harms; recommendation statement
and, if possible, costs. ☐ Somewhat

Rating of Evidence See Table 1

Guideline uses a rating system to communicate See section, Methods

X YES
the quality and reliability of the evidence.
☐ NO
☐ Somewhat See Appendix

See ACP Methods paper

(citation under additional

The Guidelines International Network is a Scottish Guarantee Company incorporated under Company No. SC243691
Registered as a Scottish Charity No. SC034047
Registered Office: J. & H. Mitchell W.S., 51 Atholl Road, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5BU, UK

Qaseem A, Forland F, Macbeth F, Ollenschläger G, Phillips S, van der Wees P. Guidelines

International Network: toward international standards for clinical practice guidelines. Annals of
Internal Medicine. 2012;156(7):525-31. https://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1103747
 comments)
1
G-I-N Standards & Description Standard If Yes, page
Achieved? number(s)/document
where the information is
available

Rating of Recommendations See section,

Recommendations for
Guideline uses a rating system to communicate
X YES rationale following each
the quality and reliability of the strength of its recommendation statement
☐ NO
recommendations.
☐ Somewhat
See Table 1

Peer Review and Stakeholder Consultations See section, Methods > Peer
X YES Review
Review by external stakeholders conducted before
☐ NO
guideline publication.
☐ Somewhat

Guideline Expiration and Updating See Notice under Author,

X YES Article, and Disclosure
Guideline includes an expiry date and/or describes Information
☐ NO
the process that the guideline groups will use to
update recommendations. ☐ Somewhat

Financial Support and Sponsoring See Financial Statement

Organisation under Author, Article, and
X YES Disclosure Information
Guideline discloses financial support for the
☐ NO
development of both the evidence review as well
as the guideline recommendations. ☐ Somewhat

The Guidelines International Network is a Scottish Guarantee Company incorporated under Company No. SC243691
Registered as a Scottish Charity No. SC034047
Registered Office: J. & H. Mitchell W.S., 51 Atholl Road, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5BU, UK

Qaseem A, Forland F, Macbeth F, Ollenschläger G, Phillips S, van der Wees P. Guidelines

International Network: toward international standards for clinical practice guidelines. Annals of
Internal Medicine. 2012;156(7):525-31. https://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1103747
Additional Comments

Methods paper: Qaseem A, Snow V, Owens DK, Shekelle P. The Development of Clinical Practice
Guidelines and Guidance Statements of the American College of Physicians: Summary of
Methods. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2010;153(3):194-9.

The Guidelines International Network is a Scottish Guarantee Company incorporated under Company No. SC243691
Registered as a Scottish Charity No. SC034047
Registered Office: J. & H. Mitchell W.S., 51 Atholl Road, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5BU, UK

Qaseem A, Forland F, Macbeth F, Ollenschläger G, Phillips S, van der Wees P. Guidelines

International Network: toward international standards for clinical practice guidelines. Annals of
Internal Medicine. 2012;156(7):525-31. https://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1103747