Using and Reporting the Delphi Method for Selecting Healthcare Quality Indicators: A Systematic Review

By Rym Boulkedid, H. Abdoul, Marine Loustau, Olivier Sibony, Corinne Alberti. PLoS ONE, 2011

1,838 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Objective Delphi technique is a structured process commonly used to developed healthcare quality indicators, but there is a little recommendation for researchers who wish to use it. This study aimed 1) to describe reporting of the Delphi method to develop quality indicators, 2) to discuss specific methodological skills for quality indicators selection 3) to give guidance about this practice. Methodology and Main Finding Three electronic data bases were searched over a 30 years period (1978–2009). All articles that used the Delphi method to select quality indicators were identified. A standardized data extraction form was developed. Four domains (questionnaire preparation, expert panel, progress of the survey and Delphi results) were assessed. Of 80 included studies, quality of reporting varied significantly between items (9% for year's number of experience of the experts to 98% for the type of Delphi used). Reporting of methodological aspects needed to evaluate the reliability of the survey was insufficient: only 39% (31/80) of studies reported response rates for all rounds, 60% (48/80) that feedback was given between rounds, 77% (62/80) the method used to achieve consensus and 57% (48/80) listed quality indicators selected at the end of the survey. A modified Delphi procedure was used in 49/78 (63%) with a physical meeting of the panel members, usually between Delphi rounds. Median number of panel members was 17(Q1:11; Q3:31). In 40/70 (57%) studies, the panel included multiple stakeholders, who were healthcare professionals in 95% (38/40) of cases. Among 75 studies describing criteria to select quality indicators, 28 (37%) used validity and 17(23%) feasibility. Conclusion The use and reporting of the Delphi method for quality indicators selection need to be improved. We provide some guidance to the investigators to improve the using and reporting of the method in future surveys.

Subfields: Education, General Health Professions, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c3422d99800dc1f86bfe11caf68d76e664cf4c4a

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Citations in the corpus

Recommendations for the nomenclature of cognitive change associated with anaesthesia and surgery—2018 (2018, positive): “Theworking group comprised amultispecialty groupof experts according to recommended Delphi procedures.(12) This group wasmadeupof invited international scientists andphysicians, representing anaesthesiology, neurology, geriatrics, psychiatry, neuropsychology, surgery, and psychology [the Perioperati”
Preferred Reporting Items for a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy Studies: The PRISMA-DTA Statement (2018, methodology): “Delphi Process A 3-round Delphi process was held between December 2016 and March 2017 in which all members of the PRISMA diagnostic test accuracy group were invited to participate.(20,21) This modified Delphi process has been used previously for similar work such as Risk of Bias in Systematic Review”
CATALISE: A Multinational and Multidisciplinary Delphi Consensus Study. Identifying Language Impairments in Children (2016, background): “Selection of an expert panel is a key part of any Delphi exercise, and has been a topic of some debate in the literature [23].”
Delphi methodology in health research: how to do it?☆ (2015, background): “A systematic review including 80 Delphi studies identified five main methods used to achieve consensus, the most frequently being median scores above a predefined threshold and a high level of agreement between panel members (for example, median score above a certain level and a certain percent of o”