Table 2.

Summary of main components of AGREE II reporting checklist

DOMAIN	REPORTING CRITERIA	IMPORTANCE
Scope and purpose
Objectives	Intent	+
Questions	Benefits or outcomes	++
Population	People to whom this applies	+++
Stakeholder involvement
Group membership	Name, discipline, institution, role in guideline preparation	++
Target population preferences and views	Strategy to obtain target population views and incorporate into recommendations	++
Target users	Intended audience and how they might use the guideline	++
Rigour of development
Search methods	Details of how searches were done	++
Criteria for selection of evidence	Target population, study design, interventions, comparisons, outcomes	+++
Strengths and limitations of the evidence	Study designs, methods, and limitations; relevance of outcomes; consistency of results; size of benefit vs harms	++++
Formulation of recommendations	Development process, outcome of process (eg, voting)	+
Consideration of benefits and harms	Supporting data on benefits and harms; reporting of trade-offs	+++
Link between recommendations and evidence	How the group used evidence to inform recommendations	++++
External review	Description of external reviewers and methods used to obtain their ideas; how reviewers’ opinions informed the guideline	++
Updating procedure	Criteria or time frame to do update	+
Clarity of presentation
Specific and unambiguous recommendations	Recommended action purpose, relevant populations; caveats about whom it does not apply to; degree of uncertainty about options	+++
Management options	Description of options and in what situation each should be used	+++
Key recommendations	Summary box, flow chart, or algorithm	++
Applicability
Facilitators and barriers to application	What was considered; methods to obtain; facilitators and barriers; how this affected recommendations	++
Implementation advice and tools	Additional supporting materials (eg, summary documents, manuals)	+
Resource implications	Types of cost information; methods of obtaining, costs, and description	+
Monitoring and auditing criteria	How to assess effects and adherence to recommendations	0
Editorial independence
Funding body	Source of funding and whether it influenced content	++++
Competing interests	Types of interests considered and how they were sought; description of competing interests and how they influenced the guideline process	++++

AGREE—Appraisal of Guidelines for Research Evaluation. Data from AGREE Enterprise.⁹