| Level I | Good quality evidence |
Systematic review of RCTs with consistent findings High quality individual RCT |
| Level II |
Limited quality patient orientated evidence |
Systematic review of lower quality studies or studies with inconsistent findings Low quality clinical trial Cohort studies Case-control studies |
| Level III | Other |
Consensus guidelines, extrapolations from bench research, usual practice, opinion, disease-oriented evidence (intermediate or physiologic outcomes only), or case series |
[15] Simvastatin 40 mg, oral (secondary prevention of ischaemic events): National Department of Health. Affordable Medicines, EDP-Primary Health Care. Cost-effectiveness analysis of high, intermediate, and low dose statins for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, 31 January 2018. www.health.gov.za/
Simvastatin 40 mg, oral (secondary prevention of ischaemic events): Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' (CTT) Collaboration. Efficacy and safety of more intensive lowering of LDL cholesterol: a meta-analysis of data from 170 000 participants in 26 randomised trials. The Lancet 2010; 376(9753): 1670-81. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21067804
Simvastatin 40 mg, oral (secondary prevention of ischaemic events): Naci H, Brugts JJ, Fleurence R, Ades A. Dose-comparative effects of different statins on serum lipid levels: a network meta-analysis of 256,827 individuals in 181 randomized controlled trials. European journal of preventive cardiology 2013; 20(4): 658-70. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23529608
Simvastatin 40 mg, oral (secondary prevention of ischaemic events): Contract circular HP09-2016SD. http://www.health.gov.za/