Development of patient versions of guidelines in Chinese mainland: A systematic survey of current practices and methods

•To our knowledge, this is the first review of PVGs developed in Chinese mainland. PVG development is still in its early phases in China with a relatively small number of PVGs published.•We identified various practices described by different PVG teams in Chinese mainland. We structured the development process of included PVGs into six steps, including: (1) team; (2) selection of the scope and source guideline(s); (3) assessment of source materials；(4) decision-making process; (5) the content and format；(6) optimization of PVG and follow-up.•To facilitate the development of PVGs, a comprehensive methodological guidance not only providing guidance for PVGs developed based on one PVG, but also on multiple CPGs and other source information is needed.•Many PVGs developers took the approach of de novo development for PVGs, with the guidance World Health Organization’s Handbook for Guideline Development. This result indicates a lack of PVG knowledge among developers as there may be misunderstandings about the concept of PVGs•The PVGs provided adequate reporting in several RIGHT-PVG items, but they can still be further improved in insufficiently reported areas to help people assess the trustworthiness of a PVG and facilitate the uptake and implementation of PVGs.