GRADE application in values and preferences evidence

Article type
Year
Authors
Zhang Y1, Alonso-Coello P2
1McMaster University
2Centro Cochrane Iberoamericano, Spain
Abstract
Objectives: To:
1. review what GRADE considers as patients’ values and preferences and, more specifically, how they value the relative importance of outcomes;
2. show and discuss how to review this type of evidence systematically;
3. learn and discuss how to rate the quality of this type of evidence and present the evidence with evidence profile and 'Summary of findings' tables.

Description: Systematic reviews of primary studies addressing values and preferences can inform clinicians and patients, and can inform guideline panels moving from evidence to a recommendation or a decision. To date, there is scant guidance on the incorporation of values and preferences in evidence-based healthcare decision making, including systematic searching for and assessment of the confidence one can place on this type of evidence.

We will use a hands-on approach with short presentations. We will introduce the GRADE definition of values and preferences as “the relative importance patients place on the outcomes” and work in small groups to discuss strategies to incorporate patients’ values and preferences in evidence-based healthcare decision making, specifically for how to search for values and preferences and what types of studies are eligible. We will also apply the GRADE approach to examples from the literature, specifically for how to rate the certainty of this type of evidence and how to present results in evidence profiles and 'Summary of findings' formats.