Reporting Interest-Holder Engagement in Practice Guidelines: The RIGHT-MuSE Checklist

BACKGROUND: As part of the development of practice guidelines, developers need to systematically engage relevant interest-holder groups. The Reporting Items for practice Guidelines in HealThcare (RIGHT) checklist for reporting practice guidelines lacks detailed guidance on how to report the engagement process. OBJECTIVE: To develop a standardized checklist for reporting interest-holder engagement in practice guidelines, named the RIGHT-MuSE checklist. DESIGN: The development process followed the methods recommended by the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) Network, as well as lessons learned from the development of the RIGHT statement and its extensions. Key steps included developing the protocol, registering the project, establishing a working group, conducting background work, generating an initial list of items, conducting a consensus survey, holding panel discussions, and creating the final RIGHT-MuSE checklist and an accompanying explanation and elaboration document. SETTING: International collaboration. PARTICIPANTS: 25 panelists from various guideline development interest-holder groups. MEASUREMENTS: Consensus agreement on checklist items. RESULTS: The final RIGHT-MuSE checklist consists of 11 items covering the guidance used, methods of engagement, characteristics of interest-holders, evaluation of engagement, and management of conflicts of interest. The checklist is supplemented with a glossary of key terms and detailed explanations for each item to facilitate its use. LIMITATION: The RIGHT-MuSE checklist has not been evaluated in a broader context or widely applied in real-world guideline development processes. CONCLUSION: Guideline developers can use the RIGHT-MuSE checklist to comprehensively report on interest-holder engagement. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: The Vincent and Lily Woo Foundation.