Implications of the strength of recommendation
| Stakeholder . | Strong recommendation . | Conditional recommendation . |
|---|---|---|
| Patient | Most individuals in this situation would want the recommended course of action; only a small proportion would not | The majority of individuals in this situation would want the suggested course of action, but many would not |
| Clinician | Most individuals should follow the recommended course of action; decision aids are unlikely to be needed | Different choices are appropriate and clinicians must help each patient arrive at a management decision consistent with his or her values and preferences. Decision aids are likely useful |
| Policymaker | The recommendation can be adopted as policy in most situations (may be a quality criterion or performance indicator) | Debate and involvement of various stakeholders is needed to develop policy (recommendations are not candidate to be a quality measure) |
| Researcher | Most of the time, the supporting evidence is of high certainty, and additional research is not needed.* Rarely, the evidence supporting a strong recommendation would warrant lower certainty, in which case, future research to produce more trustworthy estimates would be needed | This recommendation is likely to be strengthened (for future updates or adaptation) by additional research |
| Stakeholder . | Strong recommendation . | Conditional recommendation . |
|---|---|---|
| Patient | Most individuals in this situation would want the recommended course of action; only a small proportion would not | The majority of individuals in this situation would want the suggested course of action, but many would not |
| Clinician | Most individuals should follow the recommended course of action; decision aids are unlikely to be needed | Different choices are appropriate and clinicians must help each patient arrive at a management decision consistent with his or her values and preferences. Decision aids are likely useful |
| Policymaker | The recommendation can be adopted as policy in most situations (may be a quality criterion or performance indicator) | Debate and involvement of various stakeholders is needed to develop policy (recommendations are not candidate to be a quality measure) |
| Researcher | Most of the time, the supporting evidence is of high certainty, and additional research is not needed.* Rarely, the evidence supporting a strong recommendation would warrant lower certainty, in which case, future research to produce more trustworthy estimates would be needed | This recommendation is likely to be strengthened (for future updates or adaptation) by additional research |
Adapted from Schünemann et al.7
Additional research may not be needed to support this specific effect estimate. However, additional research can be needed to extend findings to other populations or settings or to support implementation.