title: Use of clinical practice guidelines and factors related to their uptake: a survey of health professionals in Spain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to assess the use of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) among health professionals and factors related to their uptake in clinical practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study based on an online survey conducted among primary care (PC) and hospital-based care (HC) doctors in Spain in 2011. Questionnaire development included adaptation of similar surveys and contextualization through a qualitative study. After a pilot study and review, the final survey contained five domains: demographics, involvement in CPGs, consultation of CPGs, perceptions and attitudes regarding CPGs and Spanish NHS CPGs Programme. Professionals from selected health care centres in seven regions were contacted by email with an invitation and link to the Web-based questionnaire. We analysed between-group differences and explored potential predictors of CPGs use by means of a logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six hundred seventy-six doctors responded to the survey (27.7% response rate). 47.1% were PC and 49.5% were HC doctors. 32.5% stated previous involvement in CPGs and 56.5% stated training in research methodology. 67.5% of the surveyed professionals reported using CPGs more than one time per week. The use of a system for classifying the quality of evidence (62.3%) and for grading the strength of the recommendations (58.6%), as well as the use of a rigorous methodology (49.6%), were the most frequently reported aspects related to CPG credibility. The lack of time (56.4%), especially in PC (65.3% versus 49.5% in HC; P < 0.001), and the absence of brief and easily accessible format (42.2%) were the main reported barriers to using CPGs. None of the studied factors showed statistically significant association in the logistic regression model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Study results suggest that, in general, Spanish doctors trust and use CPGs frequently. To improve uptake by health professionals and to overcome existing barriers, CPGs should be rigorously developed and made accessible at the point-of-care in user-friendly electronic formats. Due to the low response rate, findings should be extrapolated with caution.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kotzeva
authors.forename: Imma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guillamón
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gracia
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Díaz del Campo
authors.forename: Ignasi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gich
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Calderón
authors.forename: Idoia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gaminde
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Louro-González
authors.forename: Flora
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Orrego
authors.forename: Rafa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rotaeche
authors.forename: Flavia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salcedo
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alonso-Coello
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires