Table 5.3 Criteria for using GRADE in a systematic review^a

1. The certainty in the evidence (also known as quality of evidence or confidence in the estimates) should be defined consistently with the definitions used by the GRADE Working Group.

2. Explicit consideration should be given to each of the GRADE domains for assessing the certainty in the evidence (although different terminology may be used).

3. The overall certainty in the evidence should be assessed for each important outcome using four or three categories (such as high, moderate, low and/or very low) and definitions for each category that are consistent with the definitions used by the GRADE Working Group.

4. Evidence summaries … should be used as the basis for judgments about the certainty in the evidence.