Evidence-appraisal glossary
Summary of Findings Table
A summary of findings table is a compact table that presents, for each main outcome of a review, the size of the effect, the number of people studied, and the certainty of the evidence. It is meant to convey the bottom line at a glance.
Also called: SoF table, GRADE summary table.
Rather than burying conclusions in dense text, this table lines up the outcomes that matter to a decision and shows both the relative effect and the absolute effect alongside a certainty rating for each. Presenting absolute effects, such as events per thousand people, helps readers weigh benefits against harms in terms they can act on. It is a hallmark of well-reported systematic reviews and lets a reader judge the strength of each conclusion without reconstructing the analysis.
Read the full Reading the Evidence blog.
This is a plain-language methodology definition for reading research. It is general education, not medical advice.