The Section 12 APP Criteria and Guidelines require professional development (PD) activities that are supported by the most current literature and resources, and the highest level of supporting evidence available.
Level |
Type of Evidence -- from high to low |
1A |
A systematic review of homogeneous RCTs (similar population, intervention, etc.) with or without meta-analysis |
1B |
Well-designed individual RCT (not a pilot or feasibility study with a small sample size) |
2A |
A systematic review of cohort studies |
2B |
Individual prospective cohort study, low-quality RCT (e.g., <80% follow-up or a low number of participants; pilot and feasibility studies); ecological studies; and two-group, nonrandomized studies |
3A |
A systematic review of case-control Studies |
3B |
Individual retrospective case-control study; one-group, nonrandomized pre-posttest study; cohort studies |
4 |
Case series (and low-quality cohort and case-control study) |
5 |
Expert opinion without explicit critical appraisal |
Note. RCT = randomized controlled trial.
From OCEBM Levels of Evidence Working Group. (2009). The Oxford Levels of Evidence. Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=5653
Strength of Evidence (Level of Certainty)
Description |
|
Strong |
|
Moderate |
|
Low |
|
Guidelines for Systematic Review.
The Strength of the Evidence is based on the guidelines of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (2020).