What is “quality of evidence” and why is it important to clinicians?

2008/05/01 by Gordon Guyatt, Andrew D Oxman, Regina Kunz +3 · 9 citations
Medicine · Decision Sciences · Health Professions · #Clinical practice guidelines implementation #Meta-analysis and systematic reviews #Healthcare cost, quality, practices #Computer science #Data science #Quality (philosophy) #Medicine

paper · doi:10.1136/bmj.39490.551019.be

openalex publication_date 2008/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Guideline developers use a bewildering variety of systems to rate the quality of the evidence underlying their recommendations. Some are facile, some confused, and others sophisticated but complex

Citations

• When are randomised trials unnecessary? Picking signal from noise

Cited by

• Chest physiotherapy for pneumonia in adults
• Executive Summary: IDSA Clinical Practice Guideline for Acute Bacterial Rhinosinusitis in Children and Adults
• Antigen-specific active immunotherapy for ovarian cancer
• Prevention of VTE in Nonorthopedic Surgical Patients
• Clinician-targeted interventions to influence antibiotic prescribing behaviour for acute respiratory infections in primary care: an overview of systematic reviews
• Pharmacological interventions for the prevention of acute postoperative pain in adults following brain surgery
• Subsidising artemisinin-based combination therapy in the private retail sector
• Association of Vasopressin Plus Catecholamine Vasopressors vs Catecholamines Alone With Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Distributive Shock
• Randomized controlled trial [wikipedia]

Related

• Transparency Matters: Kaiser Permanente's National Guideline Program Methodological Processes
• What Does Evidence Mean? Can the Law and Medicine Be Reconciled?
• An Application of a New Evidence Grading System to Research on the Chronic Care Model
• Evidence-based medicine concepts for patients: improving shared decision-making
• Guidance to best tools and practices for systematic reviews