Key Points
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Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) offers a transparent and structured process for developing and presenting summaries of evidence, including its quality, for systematic reviews and recommendations in health care.
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GRADE provides guideline developers with a comprehensive and transparent framework for carrying out the steps involved in developing recommendations.
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GRADE’s use is appropriate and helpful irrespective of the quality of the evidence: whether high or very low.
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Although the GRADE system makes judgments about quality of evidence and strength of recommendations in a systematic and transparent manner, it does not eliminate the inevitable need for judgments.