Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine special statement: grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) update
Am. j. obstet. gynecol; 224 (4), 2020
Publication year: 2020
In 2013, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM)
Publications Committee adopted the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system for evaluating and rating scientific
evidence and practice recommendations for SMFM
Clinical Guidelines and Consults.1 This decision to adopt
the GRADE system was 2-fold: to achieve a singular
classification system to improve consistency with other
organizations that create guidelines and address some
of the limitations of previous classification systems.
Since the initial adoption of the GRADE system, the
SMFM Publications Committee has continued to refine
its guideline development process to provide additional
benefit to clinicians and policymakers and improve the
quality of care for our patients. This document serves to
update our process for creating evidence-based practice
recommendations and describe the GRADE process as it
is currently implemented in the SMFM Consult and
Guidelines series.