Assessment of public health interventions for decision support: methods & processes of the evaluation of the Austrian screening programme for pregnant women & children

BACKGROUND: In 2010, the Austrian Ministry of Health (MoH) commissioned the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Health Technology Assessment (LBI-HTA) to prepare decision support for the reorientation of the national screening programme for pregnant women and children (“Mutter-Kind-Pass”). This is one of several reports aimed at giving an overview of recommended screening measures. METHODS: By conducting a guideline synopsis, we summarised screening recommendations from guidelines of high methodological quality. To facilitate contextualisation of the recommendations, the MoH initiated a transparent appraisal process. RESULTS: We identified 101 guidelines dealing with screenings during pregnancy and 75 guidelines providing screening recommendations for children. From 2014 to 2018, an interdisciplinary and multi-professional expert group discussed these results and formulated recommendations for a new Austrian screening programme. CONCLUSION: Following the multi-step process of Health Technology Assessment (assessment–appraisal–decision), this methodological approach bridges evidence and national expert knowledge and represents a novel path towards a new screening programme in Austria.