G-Trust Tool

Relevance and Utility Yes Can’t Tell No


The recommendations focus on improving patient-oriented outcomes, not disease-oriented out- comes, explicitly comparing benefits vs. harms to support clinical decision-making.

How to tell: The recommendations are based on demonstrated direct benefits for patient outcomes and not biochemical markers or risk factors.

The recommendations are clear and actionable.

How to tell: The recommendations provide explicit guidance. If there is no decision tree or algorithm, there should be sufficient detail to inform collaborative decision-making in your clinical setting.


The patient populations and conditions are relevant to my clinical setting.

How to tell: The guideline should explain the target conditions, target populations, practice set- tings, and audience to which the recommendations apply. Do the recommendations apply to your practice?

Trustworthiness Yes Can’t Tell No


The guidelines are based on a systemic review of the research
data.

How to tell: Determine whether the recommendations are linked to a systematic review of the available literature.If there is no mention of a systematic literature search, the guideline is not trustworthy.


The recommendations important to you are based on graded evidence and include a description of the quality (e.g.,strong, weak) of the evidence.

How to tell: GRADE, SORT, U.S. Preventive Services TaskForce, or other strong evidence-rating systems are used to grade the available evidence and the majority of the recommendations are supported by high-quality evidence.


The guideline development team includes a research analyst, such as a statistician or epidemiologist.

How to tell: A research analyst (statistician, epidemiologist, or other qualified independent methodologist) is listed in the working group description, or an evidence review is conducted by a group separate from the guideline development group.

Interpretation Yes Can’t Tell No


The chair of the guideline development group and a majority of the rest of the committee are free of declared financial conflicts of interest, and the guideline developmental group did not receive industry funding for developing the guideline.

How to tell: Find and examine the conflicts of interest statements. It is usually at the end of the document.


The guideline development group includes members from the most relevant specialties and includes other key stakeholders, such as patients, payer organizations, and public health entities, when applicable.

How to tell: Guideline development groups should have representatives from applicable specialties and, when possible, patients or consumer advocacy groups.

G-Trust tool for clinicians to independently assess the trustworthiness and utility of guidelines. This scoring system applies only to guidelines written or updated in the past five years.

Copyright © 2017Allen F.Shaughnessy, PharmD, MMedEd, and Lisa Cosgrove,
PhD. Used with permission.