Table 1.
Interpretation of Strong and Conditional (Weak) Recommendations
| Recommendations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strong | Conditional | |
| Patients | • Most individuals in this situation would want the recommended course of action, and only a small proportion would not. | • The majority of individuals in this situation would want the suggested course of action, but many would not. |
| Clinicians | • Most individuals should receive the
intervention. • Adherence to the recommendation according to the guideline could be used as a quality criterion or performance indicator. • Formal decision aids are not likely to be needed to help individuals make decisions consistent with their values and preferences. |
• Recognize that different choices will be appropriate for individual patients and that you must help each patient arrive at a management decision consistent with his or her values and preferences. Decision aids may be useful in helping individuals to make decisions consistent with their values and preferences. |
| Policymakers | • The recommendation can be adopted as policy in most situations. | • Policymaking will require substantial debate and involvement of various stakeholders. |