Socioeconomics viewpoint: the need for an update of the clinical practice guideline on cataract

D. M. O'Day
Department of Ophthalmology and visual Sciences, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn, USA.

In June 1994, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), Washington, DC, called a meeting to hear opinions on the need for a reconstituted panel to revise the recently published clinical practice guideline Cataract in Adults: Management of Functional Impairment. The need and timing of a revision depend essentially on the answer to two questions: (1) Are there serious flaws in the previous panel's work that would necessitate a re-review? or (2) Is there new scientific information that can be critically assessed that would substantially alter the recommendations of the guideline? It is important to consider these questions with care because any revision is likely to be both costly and time-consuming.