This online course is designed for systematic review authors, guideline developers, and others wanting to use GRADE when synthesising and interpreting evidence. It introduces the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach and provides practical guidance on using the methods to summarise evidence for policy and practice. An optional third session covers the GRADE Evidence-to-Decision framework in more depth for those developing guidelines.

GRADE has become the gold standard approach for summarising findings in systematic reviews and rating the certainty of a body of evidence. Recommended for use in Cochrane reviews and NHMRC-approved guidelines, GRADE provides a transparent method for making the complex decisions required to draw conclusions about the certainty of evidence.

This workshop provides participants with practical skills required to start using the GRADE approach in a systematic review or guideline, especially for evidence about interventions. The course assumes some familiarity with systematic review methods, in particular the assessment of risk of bias and the interpretation of effect estimates

Outline

Days 1 and 2

• Overview of the GRADE approach and systematic reviews
• Interpreting synthesis results
• Assessing the certainty of evidence using GRADE
• Creating ‘Summary of Findings’ tables and Evidence Profiles from systematic reviews of interventions
• Software to support the use of GRADE

Optional Day 3 (for guideline developers)

• Introduction to the Evidence to Decision framework for making recommendations
• Reaching agreement on the interpretation of evidence about the effects of an intervention
• Mock guideline panel in which participants will use the GRADE Evidence to Decision process to make a recommendation

The workshop involves a mix of presentations, interactive examples and hands-on exercises. Electronic copies of the slides are provided on the day of each workshop. Participants must have a computer and internet access suitable for participating in zoom web-conferencing.

More information

For more information about this course please contact Sue Brennan. 

The course will be run in two half-day sessions (9:00 am to 12:30 pm), April 28 and 29. An optional half-day session (9:00 am to 12:30 pm) on May 5 is designed for guideline developers. It is offered free for those who register for the main workshop on summarising evidence. You will be prompted to confirm whether you wish to attend the third session on registering. Zoom links will be provided after registration.  

Cost

The workshop is AUD $400 per participant. 

Our facilitator

Sue Brennan is the Director of the Melbourne GRADE Centre, based  at Cochrane Australia, Monash University.