QIC level of Evidence (1-5)

LEVEL 5: Better Practice. Used to describe guidelines or practices driven more by clinical wisdom, guild organizations, or other consensus approaches that do not include systematic research evidence.

LEVEL 4: Promising Practice. Recognized by professionals and organizations in the field to have an impact. Promising and acceptable treatment with some evidence from experts/research or clinical experience of respected authorities. Rigor of evaluation is low. Interventions appear to produce results and can show promise in improving client outcomes using non-experimental design.

LEVEL 3: Emerging Practice. Supported and acceptable treatment with positive evidence from comparative studies, correlation studies, and case control studies; one nonrandomized study; or any type of quasi-experimental study.

LEVEL 2: Supported by Research. Supported with positive evidence from two or more quasi-experimental studies or at least one RCT where researchers found positive evidence.

LEVEL 1: Effective and Proven by Research. Well-supported with positive evidence from two or more randomized clinical trials.