Development of the Canadian Spinal Cord Injury Best Practice (Can-SCIP) Guideline: Methods and overview

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to changes in sensory, motor, and autonomic function. Clinical practice guidelines (CPG) often address specific impairments but fail to cover all aspects of care. The Canadian Spinal Cord Injury Best Practice (Can-SCIP) Guideline aims to fill this gap by providing comprehensive guidance. The Can-SCIP Guideline was developed using the Guidelines Adaptation Cycle. Existing SCI-specific CPGs were reviewed, and their quality was assessed using the AGREE II instrument. An expert panel reviewed and refined existing recommendations or developed new ones based on evidence from systematic reviews. The Can-SCIP Guideline includes 585 recommendations. It is the first living comprehensive guideline for adults with SCI in Canada across the care continuum. It addresses components of the ideal SCI care system and the management of secondary health conditions.

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  The Can-SCIP Guideline incorporates 585 recommendations from 41 guidelines.
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  Most recommendations (48%) were adopted from existing guidelines without revision.
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  36.8% of recommendations were revised for application in a Canadian context, and 15.2% were created de novo.