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Disclaimer
is Guideline attempts to define principles of practice that should produce high-quality patient care.
It is applicable to specialists, primary care, and providers at all levels. is Guideline should not be
considered exclusive of other methods of care reasonably directed at obtaining the same results. e
ultimate judgment concerning the propriety of any course of conduct must be made by the clinician
aer consideration of each individual patient situation. Neither IGC, the medical associations, nor the
authors endorse any product or service associated with the distributor of this clinical reference tool.
Abbreviations
ATS, American oracic Society; CHEST, e American College of Chest Physicians; CHF,
congestive heart failure; CLT, cuff leak test; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
CPAP, Continuous positive airway pressure; PES, post-extubation stridor; SBT, spontaneous
breathing trial; NIV, non-invasive ventilation
Table 1. Interpretation of strong and conditional (weak)
recommendations
Strong recommendation
Conditional (weak)
recommendation
Patients Most individuals in this situation would
want the recommended course of action,
and only a small proportion would not.
e 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 this
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.
Policy
makers
e recommendation can be adopted as
policy in most situations.
Policymaking will require substantial
debate and involvement of various
stakeholders.
The printing and distribution of this
educational resource is provided with the
compliments of GE Healthcare, a division of
General Electric Company.
www.gehealthcare.com
