U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Procedure Manual, Table 3

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Table 3. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Grid: Letter Grade of Recommendation or Statement of Insufficient Evidence Assessing Certainty and Magnitude of Net Benefit

Certainty of Net Benefit	Magnitude of Net Benefit
Certainty of Net Benefit	Substantial	Moderate	Small	Zero/negative
High	A	B	C	D
Moderate	B	B	C	D
Low	Insufficient

Grade A indicates that the certainty of evidence is high that the magnitude of net benefits is substantial.

Grade B indicates that the certainty of evidence is moderate that the magnitude of net benefits is either moderate or substantial, or that the certainty of evidence is high that the magnitude of net benefits is moderate.

Grade C indicates that the certainty of the evidence is either high or moderate that the magnitude of net benefits is small.

Grade D indicates that the certainty of the evidence is high or moderate that the magnitude of net benefits is either zero or negative.

Grade I indicates that the evidence is insufficient to determine the relationship between benefits and harms (i.e., net benefit).

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