title: How do SAGES members rate its guidelines?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The development of practice guidelines should take into consideration the opinions of end users. The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) has implemented several changes in its guideline development and dissemination process based on previous end-user input.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous electronic survey was conducted via e-mail solicitation in September 2011. Respondents were asked to submit their feedback on the 26 guidelines produced by our society using a 32-item questionnaire and to suggest topics for new guideline development and areas of improvement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Responses from the survey were received by 494 people, of whom 474 (96 %) were clinicians; 373 (75 %) were general, laparoscopic, or bariatric surgeons; and 324 (65 %) held leadership roles within their institution. Most respondents were 35-44 years old (36 %), male (83 %), and had been in practice for over 10 years (54 %). A total of 383 (81 %) had used our guidelines, and, of those, 96 % agreed with their content. Guideline quality was rated 4.34; value 4.27; and ease of access 3.97 on a five-point Likert scale. The most commonly referenced guideline in the survey regarded surgical treatment of reflux (67 %), followed by laparoscopy during pregnancy (51 %). The three most common reasons guidelines were accessed were to update knowledge (68 %), to maximize patient care through evidence-based treatment (51 %), and to obtain a critical literature review.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of respondents indicated they greatly value and agree with our guidelines. These results indicate that recent efforts to improve our guidelines have succeeded.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington, NC, USA.
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Hope
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fanelli
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stefanidis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012955:Societies, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States