December 14, 2016JAMA Cardiology
Quality of Evidence Underlying the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/Heart Rhythm Society Guidelines on the Management of Atrial Fibrillation
Key result
The proportion of AHA/ACC/HRS atrial fibrillation guideline recommendations supported by level of evidence A remained low and unchanged from 2001 to 2014 (8.4% to 8.8%; P=0.92).
Population
437 recommendations from the AHA/ACC/HRS guidelines on atrial fibrillation from 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2014
Design
Review
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
AF guidelines remain largely expert-opinion based; leaves open the need for more RCTs to strengthen the evidence base.
Structured PICO
P
Population
437 recommendations abstracted from the AHA/ACC/HRS guidelines on the management of atrial fibrillation published in 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2014.
O
Outcome
Number of recommendations and distribution of classes of recommendation (I, II, and III) and levels of evidence (A, B, and C)
The quality of evidence underlying AF guidelines remains heavily reliant on expert opinion (Level C), highlighting a critical need for more randomized clinical trials.
Cite This Study
Barnett et al. (2016) conducted a review in Atrial fibrillation (n=437). AHA/ACC/HRS guidelines on atrial fibrillation was evaluated on Distribution of classes of recommendation and levels of evidence. The proportion of AHA/ACC/HRS atrial fibrillation guideline recommendations supported by level of evidence A remained low and unchanged from 2001 to 2014 (8.4% to 8.8%; P=0.92).