Formatting uncertainties

The remaining uncertainties are rewritten or rephrased where necessary. This is to clarify the precise uncertainty which may have been submitted with a lot of narrative text and to ensure consistency in the language used.

The ICPO format is used, ensuring every question is worded, where possible, to include the Intervention, a Comparator, the Patient or Problem and an Outcome. It is important to note that not all the ICPO variables will necessarily be available. Guidance and examples can be downloaded here.

Uncertainties generally fall into four categories:

• individual uncertainties from patients, carers or clinicians
• indicative uncertainties, consisting of a group of uncertainties submitted separately but which have the same ICPO format
• uncertainties from research recommendations and reviews
• uncertainties taken from ongoing research set in the context of a relevant and reliable systematic review