The fifth meeting of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Dietary Guidelines Expert Committee (Expert Committee) was held in March 2023 by videoconference. The meeting discussed a framework to support the evidence review process and agreed on the prioritised broad research questions.
Evidence review framework
The Expert Committee considered a proposed framework for additional scoping work to identify existing evidence. The framework describes how the literature will be searched and how potentially suitable systematic reviews will be identified. It builds on the eligibility criteria previously considered, adding additional detail about the criteria individual systematic reviews must meet to be included in the review.
The scoping work will map suitable systematic reviews against the highest priority research questions to identify which questions can be answered using existing evidence. It will identify critical gaps in the current evidence base where new evidence reviews may need to be undertaken.
Research questions
The Expert Committee reaffirmed that only research questions for the highest priority topics will be included in a broad scoping search for existing systematic reviews. Members noted that a public call for submissions of relevant supporting systematic reviews is also planned.
The Expert Committee further refined the research questions for each priority topic, detailing specific populations, exposures, comparators and health outcomes for each topic. Research questions remain broad at this stage, to make sure relevant existing evidence is captured and to pinpoint research gaps. Once the scoping work is completed the Expert Committee will advise which of the existing systematic reviews should be used to update the evidence base. Additionally, the Expert Committee will prioritise critical research gaps that may need to be addressed through additional evidence reviews.
Next meeting
The next Expert Committee meeting will be scheduled following the completion of the scoping search.
