Table 3.
Level of evidence | Criteria for inclusion in best evidence synthesis |
---|---|
Strong evidence |
generally consistent findings in: |
o multiple high quality cohort studies | |
Moderate evidence |
generally consistent findings in: |
o 1 high quality cohort study & > 2 high quality case-control studies | |
o > 3 high quality case-control studies | |
Limited evidence |
generally consistent findings in: |
o single cohort study | |
o 1 or 2 case-control studies or | |
o multiple cross-sectional studies | |
Conflicting evidence |
inconsistent findings in <75% of the trials |
No evidence | No studies could be found |