Table 1. Characteristics and Methods Used For Developing the 11 Clinical Practice Guidelines.
| Characteristics | SOA 2006 | IND 2007 | POL 2007 | MAL 2008 | EUR 2009 | JAP 2009 | LAT 2009 | AUS 2010 | CAN 2011 | SAU 2011 | NICE 2011 |
| Status of the CPG | |||||||||||
| New | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Updated | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Level of development | |||||||||||
| National | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Regional | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Organization behind the guideline | |||||||||||
| Professional organization (e.g. Societies) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Government | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Funding/Sponsorship | No | NR | NR | Industry educational grant | NR | NR | NR | Professional Grants | Professional grants | Industry | NICE |
| Developing team structure & affiliation described | |||||||||||
| Number of members | 7 | 33 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 30 | 14 | 14 | 65 | 19 | 15 |
| Affiliation described? | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Specialty described? | No | No | No | Yes | Not clear | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Searching and selecting references | |||||||||||
| Search Strategy Described? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Total references cited | 110 | 146 | 4 | 251 | 293 | 742 | 157 | 64 | 56 | 53 | 662 |
| Total systematic reviews cited | 6 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 19 | 36 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 12 |
| Total Cochrane reviews cited | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1* | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Total cited/available** relevant Cochrane reviews from the Hypertension group only | 0/11 | 0/15 | 0/15 | 0/17 | Jan-32 | 0/32 | 0/32 | 0/34 | 0/39*** | 0/39*** | 2****/39 |
| Methods of deriving recommendations | |||||||||||
| Evidence linked, Formal consensus method | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Evidence-linked, no description of method | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Consensus method, no detailed description | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Not described | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Implementation strategies described | Yes | No | No | No | Yes, weak | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Year of publication of the previous version of the CPG | 2003 | 2001 | - | 2002 | 2007 | 2004 | - | 2009 | 2010 | 2007 | 2006 |
| Next Update of the CPG | 2012 | NR | NR | 2012 | NR | NR | NR | NR | 2012 | NR | NR |
NR: Not reported. SOA: South Africa; IND: India; POL: Poland; MAL: Malaysia; EUR: Europe; JAP: Japan; LAT: Latin America; AUS: Australia; CAN: Canada, SAU: Saudi Arabia and NICE (The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence).
*
The ESH Reappraisal in 2009 cited only 1 review (4 reviews were cited in 2007).
**
Produced by the Hypertension Cochrane Review Group calculated for up to one year before the date of publication of the CPGs when the search date was not reported.
***
The total number of reviews available at that time was 41 but two reviews were excluded because they were judged as irrelevant.
****
The updated version of Murlow's review was published in 2008 but the 2000 version was the one cited.