Views about clinical practice guidelines of the Indian Psychiatric Society: A survey of psychiatrists in India

BACKGROUND: The Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) constituted a task force on clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in 2004 to formulate guidelines for management of various psychiatric disorders in the Indian setting. Over the next 4 years (2005-2008), the task force published 4 volumes of guidelines covering most of the psychiatric disorders and issues in special populations. However, till now, nothing is known about the usefulness, awareness and their implementation. This was a preliminary survey to know about the usefulness and awareness of the CPGs of the IPS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An email survey was sent to 1100 psychiatrists, of which 107 responded. RESULTS: Only half of the responders were aware about all the 4 volumes of the guidelines and only 12.7% of the responders had read all the four volumes. About two-thirds of the responders had referred to these guidelines in their clinical practice, either occasionally (46.1%), often (16.7%) or always (2%). Similarly, more than two-thirds of the responders considered these guidelines to be helpful in making day-to-day clinical decisions in their practice, either occasionally (48%), often (19.6%) or always (3.9%). In the open-ended questions, many of the responders discussed their dissatisfaction with these guidelines and gave suggestions as to how these guidelines could be improved. CONCLUSION: There is need for better dissemination of the guidelines and making recommendations that can be applied in an Indian setting.