Draft recommendation statements were developed by the Work Group Co-Chairs and Work Group members with input from all Work Group members. The health benefits, side effects, and risks associated with each recommendation were considered when formulating the guideline, as well as information on patient preferences when available. Recommendation statements were revised in a multi-step process during teleconferences and a face-to-face meeting, as well as in subsequent drafts by email. All Work Group members provided feedback on initial and final drafts of the recommendation. The final draft was sent for internal and external peer review, and was further revised by the Work Group Co-Chairs and members. All Work Group members approved the final version of the guideline. Grading the strength of the recommendations. The strength of a recommendation is graded as level 1 or level 2. Table 14 shows the KDIGO nomenclature for grading the strength of a recommendation and the implications of each level for patients, clinicians, and policy-makers. Recommendations can be for or against doing something. Each recommenda- tion includes an explicit link between the quality of the Table 12 | Final grade for overall quality of evidence Grade Quality of Evidence Meaning A High We are confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect. B Moderate The true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different. C Low The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect. D Very low The estimate of effect is very uncertain, and often will be far from the truth. 