Objective

2

To develop

the Evidence Grading Scale for Ancient classical prescriptions in Traditional Chinese medicine

，

assess its reliability and validity， and apply it in practice to provide multi-source evidence for clinical practice guidelines development.

Methods

2

Literature retrieval was conducted to extract and screen existing evaluation dimensions， then the initial items were summarized using thematic analysis. Experts in the clinical medicine， medical history and literature participated in the Delphi questionnaire survey to evaluate and refine the items. An expert consensus meeting was conducted to finalize the included items， refine the method for items evaluation and evidence grading. The evidence quality rating scale for ancient classical traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） prescriptions was then established and tested for reliability and validity.

Results

2

Through literature review， extraction， screening and summarization， a total of 3 dimensions and 12 initial items were formed. Questionnaires were sent to

69 experts to evaluate the initial items， with a questionnaire response rate of 100% and an expert authority coefficient of 0.92. All 12 items were retained for they had importance scores above 4.

The Evidence Grading Scale on Ancient classical prescriptions in Traditional Chinese medicine

includes 3 dimensions with 12 items. The 3 dimensions includes ancient evidence， inheritance status， and modern application. Each dimension contains 4 items， and each item has a full score of 5 points. The evidence was rated as high-level， moderate-level， and low-level according to the final scores. The content validity index （CVI） of the 12 items was ＞0.9， the average CVI of the scale was 0.98， and the intraclass correlation coefficient （ICC） was 0.90.

Conclusion

2

The Evidence Grading Scale on Ancient classical prescriptions in Traditional Chinese medicine

has good reliability and validity， which is practical for use in the development of TCM clinical guidelines and can better support clinical decision-making.