A Grade selleck kinase inhibitor 1 recommendation is a strong recommendation to do (or not do) something, where the benefits clearly outweigh the risks (or vice versa) for most, if not all patients. Most clinicians and patients should and would want to follow a strong recommendation unless there is a clear rationale for an alternative approach. A strong recommendation usually starts with the standard wording ‘we recommend’. A Grade 2 recommendation is a weaker or conditional recommendation, where the risks and benefits are more closely balanced or are more uncertain. Most clinicians and patients

would want to follow a weak or conditional recommendation but many would not. Alternative approaches or strategies may be reasonable depending on the individual patient’s circumstances,

preferences and values. A weak or conditional recommendation usually starts with the standard wording ‘we suggest’. The strength of a recommendation is determined not only by the quality of evidence for defined outcomes but also the balance between desirable and undesirable effects of a treatment or intervention, differences in values and preferences and, where appropriate, resource use. Each recommendation concerns a defined target population and is actionable. The quality of evidence is graded from A to D and for the purpose of these guidelines is defined as the following. Grade A evidence means high-quality evidence that comes selleck inhibitor from consistent results from well-performed randomized controlled trials (RCTs), or overwhelming evidence of some other sort (such as well-executed observational studies with consistent strong effects and exclusion of all potential sources of bias). Grade A implies confidence that the true effect lies close to the estimate of the effect. Grade B evidence means moderate-quality evidence from randomized trials that suffer Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II from serious flaws in conduct, inconsistency, indirectness, imprecise estimates, reporting bias, or some combination of these limitations, or

from other study designs with special strengths such as observational studies with consistent effects and exclusion of most potential sources of bias. Grade C evidence means low-quality evidence from controlled trials with several very serious limitations or observational studies with limited evidence on effects and exclusion of most potential sources of bias. Grade D evidence on the other hand is based only on case studies, expert judgement or observational studies with inconsistent effects and a potential for substantial bias, such that there is likely to be little confidence in the effect estimate. In addition to graded recommendations, the BHIVA Writing Group has also included good practice points (GPP), which are recommendations based on the clinical judgement and experience of the working group. GPPs emphasize an area of important clinical practice for which there is not, nor is there likely to be, any significant research evidence.