title: Online consensus conferences for clinical guidelines development - a survey among participants from the International Guidelines for the Treatment of Actinic Keratosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Guideline development requires considerable time and financial resources. New technical devices such as software for online conferences may help to reduce time and financial efforts of guidelines development. The present survey may serve as an explorative pilot for a future study to determine the technical feasibility, acceptability and possible weaknesses of online consensus conferences for clinical guidelines development.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous online survey was conducted among participants in the online consensus conference of the International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS) Guidelines for the Treatment of Actinic Keratosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of participants reported no technical problems with the participation in the online consensus conference; one participant had substantial technical problems accountable to a regional telephone breakdown. The majority of participants would not have preferred a traditional face-to-face conference, and all participants rated online consensus conferences for international guidelines as absolutely acceptable. Rates of acceptance were particularly high among those participants with prior experience with consensus conferences. Certain aspects, particularly the possibilities of debating, were rated as possibly superior in face-to-face conferences by some participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data from the online survey indicate that online consensus conferences may be an appropriate alternative to traditional face-to-face consensus conferences, especially within the frame of international guidelines that would require high travel costs and time. Further research is necessary to confirm the data from this explorative pilot study.
authors.affiliation: Division of Evidence Based Medicine (dEBM), Klinik für Dermatologie, Venerologie und Allergologie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ricardo N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rosumeck
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nast
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003245:Consensus Statements as Topic; D003625:Data Collection; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055623:Keratosis, Actinic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009862:Online Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: clinical guidelines; evaluation; evidence-based medicine