Objective To understand the feasibility of application of objective performance criteria single arm trial in clinical efficacy evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine, and put forward theoretical countermeasures for the difficulties in application, so as to provide references for promoting the application of objective performance criteria single arm trial in clinical efficacy evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine in the future. Methods Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted among clinical experts and methodologists who were involved in objective performance criteria single arm trials using purposive sampling combined with snowball sampling and a preset interview outline. To explore the application situations, influencing factors and difficulties in the application process of objective performance criteria single arm trial in the clinical efficacy evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine, and put forward theoretical countermeasures. Results A total of 12 respondents were interviewed, including 7 clinical experts and 5 methodologists. The interview content was summarized and formed into 216 codes. After category analysis, 5 categories were formed, including the applicable situations, advantages, limitations, difficulties in the application process and theoretical countermeasures. The respondents believed that objective performance criteria single arm trial could be used as an alternative plan when controlled trials could not be carried out, or as a preliminary exploration or evidence supplement. It had the advantages of reducing sample size, good patient compliance, saving resource input, and relatively rigorous design. However, its application was limited due to low awareness and unclear level of evidence. The application difficulties included the setting of objective performance criteria, sample size calculation, quality control and statistical analysis. It was suggested to form a standard to promote its application in the efficacy evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine. Conclusion The design of objective performance criteria single arm trial is consistent with the characteristics of clinical research of traditional Chinese medicine. However, because there is no control group, the validity of objective performance criteria single arm trial is challenged, which hinders its further application in the clinical efficacy evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine. By standardizing the selection of objective performance criteria, calculation of sample size, statistical analysis methods and research implementation steps, the strength of its demonstration and the recognition can be improved to a certain extent, but attention should be paid to avoid its misuse. In the future, the objective performance criteria single arm trial may be used as a basis to further explore the new direction of scientific research methods for clinical efficacy evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine.
Objective The modification of Chinese patent medicines (CPM) instructions is currently the focus of national drug regulation, with policies and regulations being established. Nevertheless, the policies pertaining to CPM instructions have not been thoroughly investigated. This study analyzes the direction and current issues with existing policy items to give a reference for future optimization and adjustment of policies linked to CPM instructions. Methods The official website of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and National Health Commission (NHC) were searched to collect policy documents related to the CPM instructions issued at the national level in China from January 1st 2000 to June 1st 2024. Based on the classification of policy tools (supply-based policy tools, demand-based policy tools, environment-based policy tools) and the dimension of policy development (policy planning, policy implementation, policy supervision, and policy evaluation ), a two-dimensional analytical framework of "policy tools and policy process" was constructed by using the content analysis method and the quantitative analysis method, and policy documents were analyzed. Results The 27 policy texts included in the analysis generated 104 policy entries in total, wherein, environment-based policy tools (74.04%) were used the most in the dimension of policy tools, followed by demand-based policy tools (24.04%) and supply-based policy tools (1.92%). In the dimension of policy development, policy planning tools, policy implementation tools, policy supervision tools, and policy evaluation tools accounted for 24.04%, 52.88%, 17.31%, and 5.77%, respectively. An in-depth analysis of the content of the policy entries discovered that the existing policy took into account the specification of the content of the instruction and the standardization of the expression of writing, the instruction application guidance, etc, and more and more attention was being paid to the content of the characteristics of TCM in the instruction. Conclusion Currently, there is an insufficient amount of policy documents on CPM standards, which are overly focused on environment-based policy tools and the policy implementation process. To achieve the policy goal of regulating and applying CPM specifications, it is recommended to create a balanced and coordinated structure of policy instruments, emphasise the direct promotion and pulling effect of supply and demand, increase the weight of policy evaluation and supervision, and develop a standard system for evaluating CPM specifications.
Objective To form the list of methodological quality evaluation and explanation for the selection of objective performance criteria in single arm trial, and initially construct a methodological guiding tool for the selection and evaluation of target value, so as far to provide a research basis for improving the system of single-arm trial quality evaluation by objective performance criteria method. Methods Combining the bias risk assessment method of observational study, interventional trails, domestic and foreign policy documents, and systematically collecting the common bias and evaluation key points, preliminarily proposing the list of methodological quality evaluation and explanation for the selection of objective performance criteria in single-arm trial, via two rounds of expert consensus voting using nominal group method, finally formulating the list based on the voting results and expert opinions. Results Through two rounds of discussion, sorting, comprehensive expert opinions, we improved the corresponding items in the list and finally formed the list of methodological quality evaluation and explanation for the selection of objective performance criteria in single-arm trial, which included four areas: authority, traceability, comparability, and reliability, including 10 items. The entries in each field considered both design and implementation throughout the clinical trial. Conclusion The methodology list developed in this study provides methodological guidance for the selection of objective performance criteria and quality evaluation, and provides a solid theoretical basis for the establishment of a complete methodological system of quality evaluation for objective performance criteria single arm trails.
In the formulation of the clinical question of traditional Chinese medicine clinical practice guidelines, even if the intervention elements (intervention or control) have an appropriate scope, guideline developers are still faced with a variety of interventions. By analyzing the difficulty and necessity of priority selection of intervention interventions, we propose the approach of extending expert evidence to the process of priority selection of intervention interventions, and further provide the methodology of expert evidence data collection table design, application, data presentation and expert decision-making method to provide references and guidance for guideline developers.
When prioritizing clinical questions in the development of the clinical practice guidelines, clinical questions with high recognition and low variability, or high score and less disagreement among experts were often prioritized, while questions with high recognition but high variability were excluded. By this approach, clinical questions with practical value but also showed high variability due to different causes were not accepted as priorities. There were some methodological and clinical limitations by doing so. By summarizing the causes and connotations of expert opinion variability in terms of clinical experience, expertise and values, this paper analyzed the advantages of the variability quantification application, and proposed corresponding methodological recommendations, so as to provide references for guideline developers in the priority selection of clinical questions.