For each clinical practice guideline developed under the sponsorship of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), several versions are produced to meet different needs.

The Clinical Practice Guideline presents recommendations with brief supporting information, tables and figures, and pertinent references.

The Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians is a distilled,version of the Clinical Practice Guideline, with summary points for ready reference on a day-to-day basis.

The Consumer Version, available in English and Spanish, is an information booklet for the general public to increase patient knowledge and involvement in health care decisionmaking.

For this guideline update, a separate Caregiver Guide provides instructions to persons caring for incontinent patients either at home or in long-term care facilities.

To order single copies of guideline products or to obtain further information on their availability, call the AHCPR Publications Clearinghouse toll-free at 800-358-9295 or write to: AHCPR Publications Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 8547, Silver Spring, MD 20907.

Single copies of the Clinical Practice Guideline Update are available for sale from the Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Washington, DC 20402, with a 25-percent discount given for bulk orders of 100 copies or more. The Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians, the Consumer Version in English, and the Caregiver Guide are also available for sale in bulk quantities only. Call (202) 512-1800 for price and ordering information.

The Guideline Technical Report contains complete supporting materials for the Clinical Practice Guideline, including background information, methodology, literature review, scientific evidence tables, recommendations for research, and a comprehensive bibliography. It is available from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. Call (703) 487-4650 for price and ordering information.

The full text of guideline documents for online retrieval may be accessed through a free electronic service from the National Library of Medicine called HSTAT (Health Services/Technology Assessment Text). Guideline information is also available through some of the computer-based information systems of the National Technical Information Service, professional associations, nonprofit organizations, and commercial enterprises.

A fact sheet describing Online Access for Clinical Practice Guidelines (AHCPR Publication No. 94-0075) and copies of the Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians and the Consumer Version of each guideline are available through AHCPR's InstantFAX, a fax-on-demand service that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. AHCPR's InstantFAX is accessible to anyone using a facsimile machine equipped with a touchtone telephone handset: Dial (301) 594-2800, push "1," and then press the facsimile machine's start button for instructions and a list of currently available publications.