Table 2:
Summary of guideline development process
| Activity | Responsible group |
|---|---|
| • Mind-mapping exercise to identify the scope of the guideline and the broad sections and chapters (19 chapters) | Executive committee |
| • Develop research questions (PICO[T]) for each chapter | Steering committee |
| • Conduct literature search77 | MERST |
| • Load results of the literature search into the Distiller Systematic Review software program | MERST |
| • Conduct critical appraisal of all papers77 | Chapter leads |
| • Review results of critical appraisal and assign evidence grades to each paper using AGREE II tool78 | MERST |
| • Develop reports with graded evidence | MERST |
| • Develop recommendations based on the highest level of evidence and expert consensus | Steering Committee with chapter leads and authors |
| • Review recommendations to ensure fidelity with the evidence (only for recommendations using grade A–C level evidence) | MERST |
| • Review recommendations to ensure fidelity with the evidence and relevance to primary care health care professionals | Executive committee |
| • Revise recommendations based on feedback from the executive committee and MERST | Steering committee with chapter leads |
| • Review and approve final recommendations | Executive committee |
| • External review of recommendations to assess relevance and feasibility | Family physicians and people living with obesity |
| • External peer review of chapters | Experts in each area |
Note: AGREE = Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation, MERST = McMaster Evidence Review and Synthesis Team; PICO(T) = Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Time.