GRADE
Pronunciation: GRAYD
Also written as: GRADE — Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation
Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation; a systematic framework for rating the certainty of evidence and strength of recommendations in clinical research.
Full Definition
GRADE is a widely adopted framework used in systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines to appraise the quality (certainty) of a body of evidence and to formulate recommendations. Evidence is classified into four certainty levels—high, moderate, low, and very low—based on factors including study design, risk of bias, inconsistency, indirectness, imprecision, and publication bias. In dental research publications, the GRADE approach is increasingly mandated by high-impact journals for systematic reviews and guideline documents. Editors reviewing such manuscripts should confirm that summary-of-findings tables are present, that certainty ratings are explicitly stated per outcome, and that terminology such as 'quality' vs. 'certainty' aligns with the GRADE Working Group's updated preferred terminology. GRADE should not be confused with clinical grading systems used in periodontal disease staging.
Usage
Usage note: Use 'certainty of evidence' rather than 'quality of evidence' per current GRADE Working Group preference. Avoid confusing with periodontal disease grading (Grade A/B/C).
In Context
- "The certainty of evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach and presented in a summary-of-findings table." — Systematic review methods section
- "Failure to apply GRADE ratings to each outcome is a common deficiency identified during peer review of dental systematic reviews." — Editorial checklist note