Application of the GRADE Approach in the Development of Guidelines and Recommendations in Genomic Medicine

A great deal of ambiguity exists in the development of guidelines for genomic applications used in clinical practice. The GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach has the potential to be applied in the guidelines and recommendations development process in genomics. Here, we discuss whether and how GRADE can be applied to address the challenges posed by the evidence-based guidelines and recommendations development process in genomics. To see how GRADE can complement to the current guidelines development in genomics, we compare and contrast GRADE with other approaches. GRADE differed from other methods by incorporating patient values and preferences and balance of consequences. We conclude that the groups trying to implement genomics into practice may gleam more information from applying the GRADE framework. However, it is not clear yet whether GRADE can address the issue of timeliness in terms of the differences between the time required for guidelines development and the rapid pace of genomics.