ArticleJournal of clinical epidemiology2020
Using GRADE in situations of emergencies and urgencies: certainty in evidence and recommendations matters during the COVID-19 pandemic, now more than ever and no matter what.
Article in Journal of clinical epidemiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Decision Support Frameworks in Public Health Emergencies: A Systematic Review of Dynamic Models in Complex Contexts.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- International alliance and AGREE-ment of 71 clinical practice guidelines on the management of critical care patients with COVID-19: a living systematic review.Journal of clinical epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- The mental health impact of the covid-19 pandemic on healthcare workers, and interventions to help them: A rapid systematic review.Psychiatry research · 2020Pooled it
- Decontamination of environmental surfaces in hospitals to reduce hospital-acquired infections: a systematic review.Infection prevention in practice · 2026Review
- A bespoke rapid evidence review process engaging stakeholders for supporting evolving and time-sensitive policy and clinical decision-making: reflection and lessons learned from the Wales COVID-19 Evidence Centre 2021-2023.Health research policy and systems · 2025Review
- Guidance for systematic reviews in journal author instructions: Findings and recommendations for editorial teams.Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods · 2024Article
- Searching for evidence in public health emergencies: a white paper of best practices.Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA · 2023Article
- Article
- "Long COVID" results after hospitalization for SARS-CoV-2 infection.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Pharmacological interventions to prevent Covid-19 disease: A rapid review.Reviews in medical virology · 2022Review
- Guidelines developed under pressure. The case of the COVID-19 low-quality "rapid" guidelines and potential solutions.Journal of clinical epidemiology · 2022Article
- Transparency: A central principle underpinning trustworthy guidelines.Journal of clinical epidemiology · 2022Article
- QUALITY APPRAISAL OF CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES ON PROVISION OF DENTAL SERVICES DURING THE FIRST MONTHS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.The journal of evidence-based dental practice · 2021Article
- Patient-important outcomes reported in randomized controlled trials of pharmacologic treatments for COVID-19: a protocol of a META-epidemiological study.Systematic reviews · 2021Article
- COVID-19 healthcare policies in Ireland: A rapid review of the initial pandemic response.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2021Review
- Methods to support evidence-informed decision-making in the midst of COVID-19: creation and evolution of a rapid review service from the National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools.BMC medical research methodology · 2021Review
- The pragmatic, rapid, and iterative dissemination and implementation (PRIDI) cycle: adapting to the dynamic nature of public health emergencies (and beyond).Health research policy and systems · 2021Article
- Getting trustworthy guidelines into the hands of decision-makers and supporting their consideration of contextual factors for implementation globally: recommendation mapping of COVID-19 guidelines.Journal of clinical epidemiology · 2021Article
- Tailored PRISMA 2020 flow diagrams for living systematic reviews: a methodological survey and a proposal.F1000Research · 2021Article
- Developing Guidelines Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic.Annals of internal medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe public, policy makers, and science communities are subject to many false, uninformed, overly optimistic, premature, or simply ridiculous health claims. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its context is a paramount example for such claims. In this article, we describe why expressing the certainty in evidence to support a decision is critical and why the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach matters now, perhaps more than ever and no matter what the specific topic is in relation to COVID-19. We finally also offer suggestions for how it can be used appropriately to support decision-making at global, national, and local level when emergency, urgent or rapid responses are needed. STUDY DESIGN AND
settingThis is an invited commentary to address the objectives above building on examples from the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This includes an iterative discussion of examples and development of guidance.
resultsThe GRADE approach is a transparent and structured method for assessing the certainty of evidence and when developing recommendations that requires little additional time. We describe why emergency, urgent, or rapid responses do not justify omitting this critical assessment of the evidence. In situations of emergencies and urgencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, GRADE can similarly be used to express and convey certainty in intervention effects, test accuracy, risk and prognostic factors, consequences of public health measures, and qualitative bodies of evidence.
conclusionsAssessing and communicating the certainty of evidence during the COVID-19 pandemic is critical. Those offering evidence synthesis or making recommendations should use transparent ratings of the body of evidence supporting a claim regardless of time that is available or needed to provide this response.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.