I am seeking advice on how to interpret Standard Mean Difference values that would be useful for clinicians. 

We are conducting a systematic review using a continuous outcome measure and including only RCTs.  We have elected SMD as our measure of effect.  This is understandably difficult for clinicians to interpret and we wish to map it to language such as "small, medium or large" effects.    Cohen's d has some references that suggest how to do this, but this categorization has been challenged as being too stringent for clinical studies (being initially based on social science research).    

My question is – can anyone suggest guidance (publications) whereby SMD is interpreted for clinical (RCT) type studies, or provide other insight that might help.  

Thanks.

_____________________________

Robert J. Weyant, DMD, DrPH
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346 Salk, School of  Dental Medicine
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