A schema for evaluating evidence on public health interventions- Version 4

This Schema is intended to be used as guide in the appraisal of evidence on public health interventions. It is designed to be applied to evidence in the form of a collection of research papers or evaluation reports that examine and describe the effects (benefits and harms) of an intervention. The Schema covers two stages of evidence appraisal. The first is the appraisal of individual papers or reports to determine whether they provide credible and useful information about an intervention(s). The second is the formulation of conclusions about the value of the available evidence, enabling the preparation of a summary statement on what is known, and what is not known, about a type of public health intervention(s).