The Clinical Toxicology Recommendations Collaborative: purpose, organization, and methodology

Abstract

Introduction

Scientific societies aim to provide a collective voice and unified stance on important issues. The Clinical Toxicology Recommendations Collaborative was formed in 2016 to develop evidence- and consensus-based recommendations for the management of patients exposed to common and/or serious poisonings for which the management is unclear or controversial.

Organization

The Clinical Toxicology Recommendations Collaborative is led jointly by the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology, the Asia Pacific Association of Medical Toxicology, and the European Association of Poison Centres and Clinical Toxicologists. The Governance Committee is chaired by a Past-President of one of these Societies and comprised of the six Presidents and Immediate Past-Presidents of the three Societies. A Steering Committee oversees the process of each project workgroup.

Methodology

The overall process is guided by standards set forth by the Institute of Medicine for developing trustworthy guidelines and the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation Instrument. Systematic reviews are produced using the framework set in the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) methodology. Workgroup members jointly review the evidence and prepare statements on which they vote anonymously using a 9-point Likert scale. A two-round modified Delphi method is used to reach a consensus on clinical recommendations using the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method. Final recommendations are approved by unanimous consent of the workgroup and are expressed as both levels of evidence and strength of recommendations.

Limitations

The major limitations of the Clinical Toxicology Recommendations Collaborative process centre around the amount and quality of evidence, the assessment of that evidence, and the voting of the panel.

Conclusions

By using a transparent evidence- and consensus-based approach to produce systematic reviews and clinical recommendations, the Clinical Toxicology Recommendations Collaborative aims to create an international framework for clinical toxicology education and decision-making and foster positive change for the benefit of poisoned patients.

Keywords:

• Clinical Toxicology Recommendations Collaborative
• Delphi method
• Likert scale
• Systematic reviews
• Clinical recommendations

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Sophie Gosselin, methodologist, Angela Chiew and Christopher Yates, chair and past-chair of the Recommendation Steering Committee, respectively, for their valuable input when preparing this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors are members of the Governance Committee of the Clinical Toxicology Recommendations Collaborative and currently hold the following positions in its lead organizations:

American Academy of Clinical Toxicology: President (CH) and Immediate Past President (KLC); Asia Pacific Association of Medical Toxicology: President (HHM) and Immediate Past President and current Chair of the Governance Committee (MLT); European Association of Poison Centres and Clinical Toxicologists: President (AFD) and Immediate Past President (HT), Past President and Chair of the Governance Committee until October 2023 (MFW).

Additional information

Funding

The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.