The importance of instrumental assessment in disorders of consciousness: a comparison between American, European, and UK International recommendations

Table 2 Main features of guidelines on DOC

Guideline	Year	Systematic review availability	Grading system	Inclusion criteria		No. of recommendations		Tools specification		Etiology specification		Recommendations level		NHS
Guideline	Year	Systematic review availability	Grading system	Population features	Methodological features	Dx	Px	Dx	Px	Dx	Px	Dx	Px	NHS
AAN	2018	Yes	GRADE	Yes	Yes	1	5	No	Yes	No	Yes	Weak	Weak (n = 3); Moderate (n = 2)	Private
EAN	2020	Yes	GRADE	Yes	Yes	12	0	Yes	Not available	No	Not available	Weak (n = 11); Strong (n = 1)	Not available	Public/Private
RCP	2020	No	NSF for long-term conditions	Yes	No	1	1	No	No	No	No	Weak	Weak	Public

The table depicts for each guideline (i) the year of publication, (ii) the methodological features of each guideline including the adopted evidence grading system and inclusion criteria, (iii) the total amount of recommendations for both diagnosis (dx) and prognosis (px), (iv) recommendations’ specifications concerning tools and etiology, (v) recommendations’ level for both dx and px with the number of recommendations falling within a specific recommendation’ level in the brackets, and (vi) the reference health system
AAN = American Academy of Neurology; EAN = European Academy of Neurology; RCP = Royal College of Physicians; NSF = National Service Framework; GRADE = Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation; Dx = Diagnosis; Px = Prognosis; NHS = National Health System

ISSN: 1364-8535