The GRACE Checklist for Rating the Quality of Observational Studies of Comparative Effectiveness: A Tale of Hope and Caution

Authors: Dreyer, NA; Velentgas, P; Westrich, K; Dubois, RW.
Publication: Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, 20, No. 3. March 2014.
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With the growing demand for information about comparative effectiveness and questions about the quality of research that will support future health care decision-making, a group of researchers led by Quintiles and the National Pharmaceutical Council have developed and tested a checklist to evaluate the quality and usefulness of observational research studies. The Good ReseArch for Comparative Effectiveness (GRACE) checklist was published as part of a peer-reviewed study, "The GRACE Checklist for Rating the Quality of Observational Studies of Comparative Effectiveness: A Tale of Hope and Caution," that was published in the March 2014 issue of Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy.

The GRACE checklist contains 11 items about data and research methods that can be used as an initial screening tool to separate observational studies that meet baseline quality criteria from those that do not. The GRACE checklist is “based on existing literature and guidance from experts with extensive experience in the conduct and utilization of observational comparative effectiveness research,” and is meant to help determine which observational studies should be considered to support decision-making. This checklist is an outgrowth from the GRACE Principles, a set of high-level questions that lay out the elements of good practice for the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of observational CER studies.