What resources and other considerations were taken into account when grading the strength of a recommendation?
Healthcare and non-healthcare resources, including all inputs in the treatment were considered in grading the strength of a recommendation. The following resources were considered: direct healthcare costs, non-healthcare resources (e.g., transportation and social services), informal caregiver resources (e.g., time of family and caregivers), and changes in productivity. Economic evaluations, including cost-effectiveness analysis, were not conducted for any of the guideline topics. However, the ERT conducted searches for systematic reviews of cost-effectiveness studies in support of selected topics, such as BP measurement techniques.