March 15, 2019Open Access
Levels of Evidence Supporting American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and European Society of Cardiology Guidelines, 2008-2018
Structured PICO
P
Population
Recommendations in major cardiovascular society (American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and European Society of Cardiology) guidelines from 2008 to 2018
O
Outcome
Percentage of recommendations supported by evidence from multiple RCTs or a single, large RCT
A small and unimproving percentage of major cardiovascular guideline recommendations are supported by high-quality RCT evidence.
Abstract
Among recommendations in major cardiovascular society guidelines, only a small percentage were supported by evidence from multiple RCTs or a single, large RCT. This pattern does not appear to have meaningfully improved from 2008 to 2018.