Grading the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations in clinical dentistry: a critical review of 2 prominent approaches.
The objective of this article was to critically review 2 prominent approaches used to grade the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations. Every year much information becomes available as a result of publication of scientific papers, and clinicians should be able to assess current evidence so they, along with their patients, can make the most appropriate clinical decisions. This is particularly important when there is little or no high-quality evidence available about the subject of interest. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) and the Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT) were evaluated. Strengths and weaknesses of these 2 systems are discussed, mainly on the basis of their relevance to clinical dentistry. The conclusion was that use of a system for grading the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations is urgently required because of the great heterogeneity of the quality and type of evidence relating to many dental procedures. Use of such a system will enable clinicians and their patients to make more informed decisions.
Faggion
Clovis Mariano
CM
Department of Prosthodontics, Dental School Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. Clovis.Faggion@med.uni-heidelberg.de <Clovis.Faggion@med.uni-heidelberg.de>
D003657:Decision Making; D003813:Dentistry; D055094:Evidence-Based Dentistry; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012196:Review Literature as Topic