Abstract
BACKGROUND: Transparency when documenting and assessing weight of evidence (WOE) has been an area of increasing focus for national and international health agencies. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work was to conduct a critical review of WOE analysis methods as a basis for developing a practical framework for considering and assessing WOE in hazard identification in areas of application at the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES). METHODS: Based on a review of the literature and directed requests to 63 international and national agencies, 116 relevant articles and guidance documents were selected. The WOE approaches were assessed based on three aspects: the extent of their prescriptive nature, their purpose-specific relevance, and their ease of implementation. RESULTS: Twenty-four approaches meeting the specified criteria were identified from selected reviewed documents. :Most approaches satisfied one or two of the assessed considerations, but not all three. The approaches were grouped within a practical framework comprising the following four stages: (1) planning the assessment, including scoping, formulating the question, and developing the assessment method; (2) establishing lines of evidence (EOEs), including identifying and selecting studies, assessing their quality, and integrating with studies of similar type; (3) integrating the LOEs to evaluate WOE; and (4) presenting conclusions. DISCUSSION: Based on the review, considerations for selecting methods for a wide range of applications are proposed. Priority areas for further development are identified. https:/doi.org/10.1289/EHP3067