Possible ways of setting thresholds or ranges and what the certainty expressed will represent
| Setting primarily for |
Degree of contextualization | Threshold or range | How it is set | What the certainty rating represents |
| Systematic reviews and HTA | Noncontextualized | Range: 95% Confidence Interval | Using existing limits of the 95% CIs, which implies precision is not routinely part of the rating | Certainty that the effect lies within the confidence interval |
| OR ‚ 1, RR ‚ 1, HR‚ 1, RD ‚ 0 | Using the threshold of null effectg | Certainty that the effect of one treatment differs from another | ||
| Systematic reviews and HTA | Partially contextualized| Specified magnitude of effect |
E.g. a small effect can be defined as an effect small enough that one might consider not using the intervention if
adverse effects or costs are appreciable |
Certainty in a specified magnitude of effect for one outcome (e.g. no or trivial, small, moderate or large effect) | |
| Clinical practice guideline | Fully contextualized | Threshold determined with considerations of all critical outcomes | Considering the range of possible effects on all critical outcomes, bearing in mind the decision(s) that need to be made, and the associated values and preferences | For each outcome, ratings represent our confidence that the direction of the net effect (positive or negative) will not differ from one end of the certainty range to the other. |