Aim: To develop a guideline for the applicability evaluation tool of the Diagnostic Criteria for Chinese Medicine Syndromes, aiming to enhance the clinical applicability of syndrome diagnostic criteria and promote their widespread adoption and application.
Methods: This guideline was developed using the Delphi method, with reference to the Guideline on Establishing Diagnostic Criteria of Chinese Medicine Syndromes, relevant international evaluation tools, and published diagnostic criteria for Chinese medicine syndromes.
Results: The guideline specifies the principles, procedures, and scoring criteria for evaluating the applicability of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome diagnostic criteria. The guideline consists of 5 domains and 25 items: accessibility, readability, implementability, acceptability, and overall evaluation. Each item is assessed on a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating better applicability.
Conclusions: This guideline provides a systematic and evidence-based framework for evaluating the applicability of diagnostic criteria for Chinese medicine syndromes. It may help improve the clinical applicability of syndrome diagnostic criteria and support their dissemination and implementation in clinical practice.
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2026 The Author(s). Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine published by Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
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