Table 1.
2010 American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Criteria for Rating of Published Evidencea
| Numerical descriptor (evidence level) |
Semantic descriptor (reference methods) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials |
| 1 | Randomized controlled trial |
| 2 | Meta-analysis of nonrandomized prospective or case- controlled trials |
| 2 | Nonrandomized controlled trial |
| 2 | Prospective cohort study |
| 2 | Retrospective case-control study |
| 3 | Cross-sectional study |
| 3 | Surveillance study (registries, surveys, epidemiologic study) |
| 3 | Consecutive case series |
| 3 | Single case reports |
| 4 | No evidence (theory, opinion, consensus, or review) |
a
1 = strong evidence; 2 = intermediate evidence; 3 = weak evidence; 4 = no evidence. From Mechanick et al (1).