Clinical practice guidelines for screening of HIV and HCV at a health promotion mobile unit: critical appraisal using the AGREE II instrument

Abstract

The state of Montana has seen an increase in HIV and HCV over the years and relates the trend with the opioid crisis and people who inject drugs. An approach to decrease transmission rates and provide access to treatment is to increase screening. Purpose: To better inform decision-making at a mobile unit in Lewis and Clark County (LCC), a specialty formulated screening clinical practice guideline (CPG) and work process flow was created. The present study aims to evaluate the quality of CPGs for screening for HIV and HCV at a mobile site in LCC. Methods: The guidelines and process flow were created with the guidance of searching for evidence. A review of national guidelines and literature was performed on HIV and HCV screening and prevention. Data were used to inform development of the CPG. Four independent scorers evaluated the screening guideline and process flow quality using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation version II (AGREE II) instrument. Results: The quality of the CPGs was rated high, with the majority of the reviewers rating the CPGs as the highest quality, scoring between 6 and 7 points. The overall quality of the CPGs was the highest quality, with an overall score of 95% and the lowest quality score of 86%. Conclusion: Appraisers agree that the CPGs and workflow process for the mobile unit in LCC meet the requirements for use and recommendation. Future research and exploration of screening at mobile sites are necessary to understand the effectiveness of HIV and HCV prevention for future replication in other rural areas in the state.