Venous Thromboembolism PSP question verification form

The purpose of this Question Verification Form is to enable Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) to describe clearly how they checked that their questions were unanswered, before starting the interim prioritisation stage of the process.

The JLA requires PSPs to be transparent and accountable in defining their own scope and evidence checking process. This will enable researchers and other stakeholders to understand how individual PSPs decided that their questions were unanswered, and any limitations of their evidence checking.

Name of the PSP

JLA Venous Thromboembolism PSP

Please describe the scope of the PSP

The aim of the PSP is to identify the unanswered questions about venous thromboembolism (pulmonary embolism, PE, deep vein thrombosis, DVT) from patient, caregiver and clinical perspectives, and then prioritise those that patients, carers and clinicians agree are the most important for research to address. The PSP will help ensure that those who fund health research are aware of what really matters to patients, carers and clinicians.

The scope of the Venous Thromboembolism PSP is defined as:

• the prevention, diagnosis, management and long term impact of VTE and its associated treatments on patients, carers, and their families.

The scope of the PSP excludes:

• cardiac conditions such as coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke
• peripheral arterial vascular disease
• thrombotic conditions specific only to children (pediatrics)
• provincial access to care and administration of services

Please provide a brief overview of your approach to checking whether the questions were unanswered

The summary questions were checked against evidence to determine whether they have already been answered by research. Evidence checking was done by systematic literature searching for published systematic reviews (PubMed for MeSH headings search filters for systematic review article type and within 5 year publication date) and clinical practice guidelines (societal guidelines from International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, American Society of Hematology and European Society of Cardiology were reviewed manually). Searches for evidence checking were conducted between November 1 2021 and January 30 2022.

The criteria used to exclude summary questions based on the question already have been answered by research was the following:

• A societal clinical practice guidelines statement that answers the questions with the high or strong support for the recommendation according to the societal guideline defined methodology and criteria (eg GRADE 1A or equivalent). The level of evidence should be described as a recommendation that based on highest quality of evidence.
• Agreement among the Steering Group by discussion and consensus based on summary of evidence found.

The evidence checking process was led by the PSP information specialist and project leads, Lisa Duffett.

Please list the type(s) of evidence you used to verify your questions as unanswered

Systematic reviews societal endorsed clinical practice guidelines

Please list the sources that you searched in order to identify that evidence

• PubMed (related MeSH headings were used with search filters for ‘systematic review’ article type and ‘within 5 years’ as publication date
• Clinical practice guidelines: International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, American Society of Hematology and European Society of Cardiology

What search terms did you use?

Search terms were selected and combined based on the proposed questions. PubMed Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms were used when possible.

Examples:
Venous thrombosis
Deep Vein Thrombosis
Pulmonary Embolism
Thrombosis
Post-thrombotic syndrome
Anticoagulants
Risk Factors

Please describe the parameters of the search (eg time limits, excluded sources, country/language) and the rationale for any limitations

• Searches was restricted to English language, systemic review (publication type filter), and within 5 years (publication date filter).
• Searches were conducted between November 2021 and January 30 2022.
• Selection of societal endorsed clinical practice guidelines was made by consensus by the steering group and included: International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, American Society of Hematology and European Society of Cardiology

If the above strategy did not identify sufficient resources to evaluated the evidence, search parameters restrictions were removed and a more broad search of PubMed was allowed. Results and sources of supporting evidence was brought to the Steering Group for discussion and decision by consensus.

Names of individuals who undertook the evidence checking

Lisa Duffett

On what date was the question verification process completed?

April 22, 2022

Any other relevant information

N/A