Introduction

What is AGREE?

AGREE is an international collaboration of researchers and policy makers who seek to improve the quality and effectiveness of clinical practice guidelines by establishing a shared framework for their development, reporting and assessment.

Who are the participants?

The collaboration has the participation of a core of European countries: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom as well as Canada, New Zealand and the USA (See list of AGREE members)


What is contained in the research programme?

AGREE is an integrated research programme currently funded by the BIOMED-2 Programme of the European Union. Project: PL96-3669

It comprises several research projects, including:

1. The creation of an appraisal instrument (AGREE) to assess the quality of clinical guidelines

2. The development of standard recommendations for guideline developers

3. A comparison of guideline development programmes.

4. A content analysis of guidelines on asthma, diabetes and breast cancer

5. An appraisal of individual recommendations.

How to contact AGREE?

The AGREE collaboration is co-ordinated by the Health Care Evaluation Unit at St George's Hospital Medical School in London. Contact: Françoise Cluzeau (email: f.cluzeau@sghms.ac.uk)