| Background: Evidence-based health policy brief is a decision aid tool that provides the best available evidence for decision makers and stakeholders.At present,relevant institutions and scholars have researched the development methods and reporting standards of policy briefs,but there are still gaps and limitations in the research,and more systematic and comprehensive research is needed to form the reporting items of policy briefs,so as to provide reference for policy brief developers on development methods and reporting standards.Objective:(1)To summary the definition,type and features of the evidence-based health policy briefs.(2)To assess the policy briefs manual and methodological research,which provide reference for the brief manual.(3)To assess the characteristics and status quo of the reporting of policy briefs,which provide a reference for the reporting criteria of policy briefs.(4)To research the needs of policy briefs and preferences for reporting content,which provide references for development of demand-oriented policy briefs.Methods:(1)Bibliometrics: a bibliometrics analysis of methodological literatures and policy briefs.(2)Systematic review: a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the manual and methodological studies,and a systematic evaluation of the reporting of policy briefs.(3)Questionnaire survey: a survey of policy briefs needs and reporting preferences by policymakers,stakeholders,and researchers.Results:(1)There are some differences in the naming of evidence-based health Policy briefs,including "Policy Brief","Evidence Brief","Issue Brief","Evidencebased Policy Brief","Evidence Brief for Policy",etc.Different research institutions have different definitions of policy briefs,but they all have a common feature that policy briefs provide evidence to support policy makers and stakeholder.There are many types of policy briefs,depending on the content and purpose of their development,and there are six common characteristics.(2)A total of 23 literatures were included,including 7 development manuals and 16 methodological studies.More than 80% of the methodological studies were published by authors from high-income countries,while only one study was published in China.Only 13%(3)developed manuals that clearly described the selection methods for priority issues,only 43%(10)described the type of the target users,and 43%(10)reported the evidence synthesis methods for policy briefs,and 9%(5)reported the review methods for policy briefs.Sixty-five percent(15)reported the health problem of concern,and only two literatures mentioned a comparison of the size of the health problems.Seventy percent(16)reported policy options,only 48%(11)reported evidence of benefits and potential harms of policy options,only 13%(3)reported stakeholder experience and opinions,and 30%(7)reported implementation considerations;only 39%(9)reported policy recommendations,and 52%(12)reported the writing structure of policy briefs,39%(9)reported the method of dissemination.(3)A total of 129 evidence-based health policy briefs were included,and the number of published briefs gradually increased,there were 9 type of titles for the policy briefs;and 95%(123)were developed by institutions,involving 14 institutions,and the World Health Organization developed the most policy briefs;and 40%(51)reported both the main messages and the executive summary;and46%(59)reported on the evidence synthesis approach,while only 18%(23)reported on the retrieval of databases,and 38%(49)reported on the review of the policy briefs;Only two percent(2)reported on the size of the health problem and 5%(6)reported on the consequences of the problem;38%(49)reported on evidence of the benefits and potential harms of policy options,and 10%(13)reported on stakeholder views and experiences,and 61%(79)reported on implementation considerations,only 18%(23)reported on policy recommendations or suggestions,and only two policy briefs reported on the method of dissemination.(4)A total of 21 health researchers and 4 decision makers and stakeholders filled out the questionnaire,and 60% of the respondents had participated in the development or review of policy briefs,and 40% of the health researchers had participated in related research.According to the results of the survey on report content preference,the average value of key information or executive summary is the highest(4.8),followed by the evidence of the advantages and potential harm of the policy option,key words,potential barrier to implementation and promotive factors.Conclusions:(1)Through the systematic review on policy brief manuals and methodology studies found that most of the policy brief for manuals and researches are not specific in the details of development methods and reporting content,lack of clear requirements for writing policy briefs,also is not considered different presentation type and the external environment factors on the policy briefs development and the influence of the writing format.There is no clear and transparent report on how to develop the manual,so it is impossible to judge its scientific nature and operability.Therefore,there is a need to scientifically develop manuals for the development of different types of policy briefs and to develop tools or criteria for evaluating the reporting quality of policy briefs.(2)Through the systematic review on policy briefs found that the policy briefs developed by different institutions and the different type of policy brief have great differences in the content of the reporting.The reporting contents of some policy briefs are not clear,which cannot improve the transparency,authenticity and reliability of policy briefs.Policy briefs have some particularity due to external environmental factors,it is difficult to provide relatively constrainedly reporting criteria for policy briefs.Therefore,it is necessary to improve the content of policy briefs development manual and develop reporting reference items for different types of policy briefs.(3)Policy makers and stakeholders have a great demand for policy briefs,hoping to obtain the current best evidence efficiently and conveniently.As for the reporting content of policy briefs,respondents prefer to refine and key content,so that usable and effective evidence can be obtained quickly.Therefore,considering the needs of target users to improve the reporting reference items of policy briefs,a survey will be conducted on the demand and the preference of the reporting content on a large sample. |
