A systematic review of the content and quality of clinical practice guidelines for management of the neurogenic bladder following spinal cord injury

Neurogenic bladder following acute spinal cord injury (SCI) increases urinary tract infection (UTI) risk and affects quality of life and health system costs. This study aimed to identify, describe and evaluate quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for managing neurogenic bladder following SCI. A comprehensive search covered six electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Health Systems Evidence, Cochrane, CINAHL, Epistomonikos) and 12 CPG portals. Inclusion criteria were English language CPG; includes recommendations for managing neurogenic bladder in adults; all phases of care; published 2011 onwards in peer-reviewed journal/CPG portal. For eligible CPGs, key characteristics including years covered by CPG searching and number of neurogenic bladder recommendations were extracted. Quality appraisal used the AGREE II instrument. Appraiser agreement was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Searching yielded 4028 citations and eight relevant CPGs. Collectively the CPGs contained 304 recommendations. Over half (160) pertained to assessment, surgery or education. Most surgery recommendations were from older CPGs; more recent CPGs emphasised conservative therapy. Methodological quality across CPGs was good in the domains of ‘clarity of presentation’ (84% mean domain score), ‘scope and purpose’ (72%) and ‘editorial independence’ (68%). There were shortcomings in the domains of ‘rigor of development’ (52%) ‘stakeholder involvement’ (42%) and ‘applicability’ (33%). CPGs for the management of neurogenic bladder following SCI are generally robust in stating their scope and clearly presenting recommendations. Only three CPGs attained domain scores over 70% pertaining to methodological rigor. Future CPGs should also focus on providing implementation / audit resources and incorporating patient perspectives.