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Table 1. Recommendation Grading
Grade Rating Rating Definition
A Strongly
recommends
Good evidence that the service or intervention can improve
important health outcomes
B Recommends Fair evidence that the service or intervention can improve
important health outcomes
C Recommends Expert opinion
D Recommends
against
Expert opinion
E Recommends
against
Fair evidence that the service or intervention does not improve
important health outcomes or that harms outweigh benefits
F Strongly
recommends
against
Good evidence that the service or intervention does not
improve important health outcomes or that harms outweigh
benefits
I Recommends
neither for nor
against
e evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against
providing the service or intervention because evidence is
lacking that the service or intervention improves important
health outcomes, the evidence is of poor quality, or the
evidence is conflicting.
Adapted from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Capital letters in parentheses are used subsequently to express the strength of the Task Force's
Recommendation based on available evidence.
