Identifying research recommendations

The searched systematic reviews and guidelines may contain research recommendations, indicating uncertainty. These may be reflected in the dataset already generated by the survey (so can be combined with those), or they may be unique. The Steering Group will need to decide whether the latter are appropriate to include in the dataset. Many PSPs have included them so the questions can be considered at prioritisation. Some have chosen not to include questions that are methodological or too technical and inaccessible to a non-research audience.

When deciding what goes forward for prioritisation, and the associated workload, the PSP's available resources will need to be considered. It may be that a Steering Group decides not to include all the identified research recommendations if the number is going to overwhelm the questions generated by patients, carers and clinicians. Steering Groups should be transparent about their decision-making in their reporting.