There is an increase in published studies relevant to the development of patient version of guidelines (PVGs). We reviewed, summarised and analysed the current developments in this field, with the aim of informing domestic scholars of the factors to consider when developing quality PVGs. We proposed three recommendations: (1) the concept of patient guidelines needs to be better defined; (2) a platform for the dissemination of PVGs should be established to support their implementation; and (3) a standardised PVGs development methodology should be developed to ensure the quality of the PVGs.
