Appendix A.

Systematic review search strategy

Group	Search Terms	Significance of Grouping
1	MEDLINE + EMBASE	Targeted bibliographic databases
2	(Chronic kidney failure [MeSH] OR Chronic Kidney Failures [MeSH] OR (Failure, Chronic Kidney [MeSH] OR Chronic Kidney Failure [MeSH] OR Chronic Kidney Failures [MeSH] OR Failure, Chronic Kidney [MeSH] OR Failures, Chronic Kidney [MeSH] OR Kidney Failures, Chronic [MeSH] OR Renal Failure, Chronic [MeSH] OR Chronic Renal Failure [MeSH] OR Chronic Renal Failures [MeSH] OR Failure, Chronic Renal [MeSH] OR Failures, Chronic Renal [MeSH] OR Renal Failures, Chronic [MeSH] OR End-Stage Kidney Disease [MeSH] OR Disease, End-Stage Kidney [MeSH] OR Diseases, End-Stage Kidney [MeSH] OR End Stage Kidney Disease [MeSH] OR End-Stage Kidney Diseases [MeSH] OR Kidney Disease, End-Stage [MeSH] OR Kidney Diseases, End-Stage [MeSH] OR ESRD [MeSH] OR Kidney Insufficiency, Chronic [MeSH] OR Chronic Kidney Insufficiencies [MeSH] OR Chronic Kidney Insufficiency [MeSH] OR Insufficiencies, Chronic Kidney [MeSH] OR Insufficiency, Chronic Kidney [MeSH] OR Kidney Insufficiencies, Chronic [MeSH] OR End-Stage Renal Disease [MeSH] OR Disease, End-Stage Renal [MeSH] OR Diseases, End-Stage Renal [MeSH] OR End Stage Renal Disease [MeSH] OR End-Stage Renal Diseases [MeSH] OR Renal Diseases, End-Stage [MeSH] OR Renal Disease, End-Stage [MeSH] OR Renal Disease, End Stage [MeSH] OR Renal Failure, End-Stage [MeSH] OR End-Stage Renal Failure [MeSH] OR End-Stage Renal Failures [MeSH] OR Failure, End-Stage Renal [MeSH] OR Failures, End-Stage Renal [MeSH] OR Renal Failure, End Stage [MeSH] OR Renal Failures, End-Stage [MeSH] OR Renal Insufficiency, Chronic [MeSH] OR Chronic Renal Insufficiencies [MeSH] OR Chronic Renal Insufficiency [MeSH] OR Insufficiencies, Chronic Renal [MeSH] OR Insufficiency, Chronic Renal [MeSH] OR Renal Insufficiencies, Chronic [MeSH] OR Failure, Kidney [MeSH] OR Failures, Kidney [MeSH] OR Kidney Failures [MeSH] OR Renal Insufficiency [MeSH] OR Insufficiencies, Renal [MeSH] OR Insufficiency, Renal [MeSH] OR Renal Insufficiencies [MeSH] OR Renal Failure [MeSH] OR Failure, Renal [MeSH] OR Failures, Renal [MeSH] OR Renal Failures [MeSH] OR Kidney Insufficiency [MeSH] OR Insufficiencies, Kidney [MeSH] OR Insufficiency, Kidney [MeSH] OR Kidney Insufficiencies OR Dialyses, Renal [MeSH] OR Renal Dialyses [MeSH] OR Dialysis, Renal [MeSH] OR Dialysis, Extracorporeal [MeSH] OR Dialyses, Extracorporeal [MeSH] OR Extracorporeal Dialyses [MeSH] OR Extracorporeal Dialysis [MeSH] OR Hemodialysis [MeSH] OR Hemodialyses OR Dialyses, Peritoneal [MeSH] OR Dialysis, Peritoneal [MeSH] OR Peritoneal Dialyses)	Targeted topic focus
3	(Mortality [tw] OR Survival [tw] OR Longevity [tw])	Targeted content key words
4	(Letter [pt] OR editorial [pt] OR review [pt] OR news [pt])	Excluded study types

The four search groups were combined as follows: (1 AND 2 AND 3) NOT 4. The search specifically sought to identify studies containing information linking any patient-level, physician-level, facility-level, and surrogate/intermediate level variables with outcomes (particularly mortality) in dialysis patients. [tw = text word; pt = publication type; MeSH = Medical Subject Heading].