Clinical Practice Guidelines Antenatal Care — Module II

Grading of the evidence

review of the evidence base, including the number of studies, level of evidence and quality of studies (eg risk of bias), and consistency across studies;

examination of the effect size, the relevance of the evidence base to the research question and whether the risks and benefits had been considered in terms of clinical impact; and

judgement by members of the EAC of the generalisability of the body of evidence to the target population for the Guidelines and the applicability of the body of evidence to the Australian healthcare context, taking into account feasibility issues (workforce, geographical distance, cost) and existing health care systems.

The Evidence Statement Form/Matrix (adapted from NHMRC Levels of Evidence and Grades for Recommendations for Developers of Guidelines [2009]) was used for each research question addressed. The form was used as the basis of discussion regarding the key components, which were rated according to the matrix shown in Table D2. Conflicts of interest (eg where an EAC member was author of evidence under consideration) were declared at the commencement of discussion of each topic. Barriers to implementing the recommendations and support required for successful uptake of the Guidelines, were noted on the Form.

Table D2: Components of body of evidence considered when grading each recommendation