October 2003 Guideline
An initial database search for existing guidelines was conducted in early 2001 by a company that specializes in searches of the literature for health related organizations, researchers and consultants. A subsequent search of the MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Embase databases, for articles published from January 1, 1995, to February 28, 2001, was conducted using the following search terms and key words: "smoking cessation," "smoking addiction(s)," "relapse," "practice guidelines," "practice guideline," "clinical practice guideline," "clinical practice guidelines," "standards," "consensus statement(s)," "consensus," "evidence based guidelines," and "best practice guidelines." In addition, a search of the Cochrane Library database for systematic reviews was conducted using the above search terms.
A metacrawler search engine (www.metacrawler.com), plus other available information provided by the project team, was used to create a list of 42 Web sites known for publishing or storing clinical practice guidelines.
Panel members were asked to review personal archives to identify guidelines not previously found through the above search strategy. In a rare instance, a guideline was identified by panel members and not found through the database or Internet search. These were guidelines that were developed by local groups and had not been published to date.
The search method described above revealed fourteen guidelines, several systematic reviews, and numerous articles related to smoking cessation. The final step in determining whether the clinical practice guideline would be critically appraised was to apply the following criteria:
- Guideline was in English
- Guideline was dated no earlier than 1996
- Guideline was strictly about the topic area
- Guideline was evidence-based (e.g., contained references, description of evidence, sources of evidence)
- Guideline was available and accessible for retrieval
March 2007 Guideline Revision
The search strategy utilized during the revision of this guideline focused on two key areas. One was the identification of new guidelines published on the topic of smoking cessation since the original guideline was published in 2003, and the second was to identify systematic reviews and primary studies published in this area from 2003 to 2006.
Database Search
A database search for existing evidence related to smoking cessation was conducted by a university health sciences library. An initial search of the Medline, Embase and CINAHL databases for guidelines and studies published from 2003 to 2006 was conducted in March 2006, using the following search terms and key words: "smoking cessation", "smoking addiction(s)", "relapse", "practice guidelines", "practice guideline", "clinical practice guideline", "clinical practice guidelines", "standards", "consensus statement(s)", "consensus", "evidence based guidelines" and "best practice guidelines". In addition, a search of the Cochrane Library database for systematic reviews was conducted using the above search terms.
Structured Website Search
One individual searched an established list of websites for guidelines related to the topic area in April 2006. This list of sites, reviewed and updated in April 2006, was compiled based on existing knowledge of evidence-based practice websites, known guideline developers, and recommendations from the literature. Presence or absence of guidelines was noted for each site searched as well as date searched. The websites at times did not house a guideline but directed to another website or source for guideline retrieval. Guidelines were either downloaded if full versions were available or were ordered by phone/email. (Refer to Appendix A of the updated guideline for a list of websites searched).
Search Engine Web Search
A website search for existing practice guidelines on smoking cessation was conducted via the search engine "Google", using key search terms. One individual conducted this search, noting the results of the search, the websites reviewed, date and a summary of the results. The search results were further reviewed by a second individual who identified guidelines and literature not previously retrieved.
Hand Search/Panel Contributions
Additionally, panel members were asked to review personal archives to identify guidelines not previously found through the above search strategy. Results of this strategy revealed no additional clinical practice guidelines.
