Table 1.

Implications of different recommendations to key stakeholders

Recommendation	Meaning	Implications to patients	Implications to clinicians	Implications to policymakers
Strong recommendation or Best practice statement	Must do or Must avoid	Almost all individuals in this situation would want the recommended intervention, and only a small proportion would not want it	Most individuals should receive the recommended course of action	Can be adapted as policy in most situations, including the use as performance indicators
Weak recommendation	Consider doing or Consider avoiding	The majority of individuals in this situation would want the recommended intervention, but many would not	Different choices are likely to be appropriate for different patients, and the recommendation should be tailored to the individual patient’s circumstances. Such as patients’, family’s, or substitute decision maker’s values and preferences	Policies will likely be variable