Currently, there is no international standard for the methodology of patient versions of guideline development. In China, the development of patient versions of guidelines is still in its infancy, and there are no registered or published patient versions of guidelines in the field of acupuncture. This paper introduces two methods of developing patient versions of guidelines: directly converting clinical practice guidelines into patient versions guidelines and developing patient versions of guidelines independently. The relationship and differences between patient guidelines and clinical practice versions of guidelines are compared. By integrating the unique characteristics of acupuncture, this paper analyzes and discusses the significance, problems, and challenges of developing patient versions of guidelines in the field of acupuncture, aiming to provide methodological references for the future development of acupuncture patient versions of guidelines.
患者指南的制定方法目前国际上尚无统一的标准。我国患者指南的制定尚处于起步阶段，针灸领域亦无患者指南注册和发布。本文介绍了由临床实践指南直接转化的患者指南以及单独制定的患者指南两种制定方法，比较患者指南和临床实践指南的联系与区别。并结合针灸学自身特点，分析针灸领域制定患者指南的意义及其面临的问题与挑战，以期为未来针灸患者指南的制定提供方法学参考。.

Patient-directed knowledge tools such as patient versions of guidelines and patient decision aids are increasingly developed to facilitate shared decision making. In this paper, we report how consensus was reached within the Netherlands on quality criteria for development, content and governance of these tools.
A 12-month development and consensus study. The consortium worked on four work packages: (a) reviewing existing criteria; (b) drafting the quality criteria; (c) safe-guarding the acceptability and feasibility of the draft criteria by participatory research in on-going tool development projects; and (d) gaining formal support from national stakeholders on the quality criteria.
We reached consensus on a 8-step guidance; describing minimal quality criteria for (a) the team composition; (b) setting the scope; (c) identifying needs; (d) the content and format; (e) testing the draft; (f) finalizing and approval; (g) dissemination and application, and (h) ownership and revision. The participants of the on-going tool development projects were positive about the quality criteria in general, but divided as to the degree of detail. Whereas some expressed a clear desire for procedural standards, others felt that it would be sufficient to provide only general directions. Despite the different views as to the degree of detail, consensus was reached in three stakeholder meetings.
We successfully collaborated with all stakeholders and achieved formal support from national stakeholders on a set of minimum criteria for the development process, content and governance of patient-directed knowledge tools.

For several years patient versions of guidelines have become mandatory in the German Guidelines Program in Oncology (GGPO). Based on the methodology that has been developed for the German National Disease Management Guidelines Program, patient versions of guidelines translate the recommendations of clinical practice guideline into plain language and provide information about the harms and benefits of the interventions being addressed in the guideline. They are developed by a group of guideline authors (experts as well as patients), they are consensus-based and aim to create transparency in recommendations for physicians and their rationales. An automated analysis of readability shows that patient versions of guidelines are specific to the target group of educated lay people. Moreover, the responses to a reader feedback questionnaire indicate that comprehensibility, level of detail and depth of information are considered highly relevant and positive by users. Thus, patient versions of guidelines meet the needs of a specific target group. Nevertheless, the development of other formats for readers with low levels of health literacy or cognitive competencies is desirable. Currently it remains unclear if these simplified formats are able to reflect the complexity of high quality clinical practice guidelines.