Introduction
It is not a secret that the level of evidence of a scientific article is one of the indicators of the reliability of a work in terms of ranking a research article and evaluating its relative contribution. In general, there are seven levels of evidence (LOE); each of them reflects the degree of confidence that the effect found from medical intervention is actual. Determining the article’s evidence level is a crucial aspect of this paper.
Analysis
Based on knowledge and ideas about the level of evidence, it is necessary to state that the article from Rhee et al. should be attributed to the 4th level of proof. In this case, it should be noted that the methodology was based on a cohort study conducted on more than 3,000 patients with diabetes mellitus (Rhee et al., 2008). Thus, it is known that the study was conducted with the participation of two groups (cohorts) of patients, one of whom was subjected to the studied intervention, and the other was not: patients with type 2 diabetes with first and 1-year follow-up visits to a municipal diabetes clinic (Rhee et al., 2008). Cohorts were tracked to identify the outcomes of interest–glycemic control between blacks and whites (Rhee et al., 2008). The groups differed in that one group of people was affected by the studied risk factor, and the other was not. They were compared with each other for the appearance of a specific outcome. Thus, it is possible to understand how the studied risk factor is related to subsequent outcomes and diseases.
Conclusion
Summarizing the information mentioned above, the presented article represents the 4th level of evidence in the framework of a cohort study. This study appeals to clearly defined criteria at an initial stage with an initial group of participants. During the study, a question was raised, and a hypothesis was formed about the potential causes of the disease. In this study, the authors focused particular attention on comparing glycemic control between blacks and whites under certain conditions.
Reference
Rhee, M. K., Ziemer, D. C., Caudle, J., Kolm, P., & Phillips, L. S. (2008). The use of a uniform treatment algorithm abolishes racial disparities in glycemic control. The Diabetes Educator, 34(4), 655-663.