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. 2009 Sep 18;339:b3435. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b3435

Table 5.

 Number of relevant articles retrieved with and without search filters

Clinical question* No of relevant articles retrieved No of non-relevant articles retrieved†
Clinician’s search alone Clinician’s search with most sensitive renal content filter Clinician’s search with most specific renal content filter Clinician’s search alone Clinician’s search with most sensitive renal content filter Clinician’s search with most specific renal content filter
What are the effects of statins on change in kidney function and urinary protein excretion? (24 relevant articles) 6 20 16 86 48 39
What is the impact of fenoldopam on acute kidney injury, patients’ mortality, and length of hospital stay in critically ill patients? (12 relevant articles) 1 11 11 7 32 21
When tacrolimus is compared directly with ciclosporin in the treatment of kidney transplant recipients, what is the evidence on transplant outcomes, toxicity, and adverse effects? (63 relevant articles) 10 60 60 18 20 15
What is the efficacy of low dose dopamine (<5 μg/kg of body weight per minute) compared with no therapy in patients with or at risk for acute renal failure? (52 relevant articles) 6 15 12 13 16 15
How does intradermal v intramuscular hepatitis B vaccine compare regarding response rate among chronic kidney disease patients? (11 relevant articles) 6 10 10 22 34 31

*Five clinicians were asked to type in a PubMed search to answer a focused clinical question for which relevant articles were summarised in a recent systematic review.33-37 Each search was restricted to search dates provided in methods of each review. Search phrases as determined and typed in by clinicians were: “statins and kidney function”, “fenoldopam and acute kidney injury”, “‘kidney transplant outcome tacrolimus cyclosporin”, “low-dose dopamine and acute renal failure”, and “hepatitis b vaccination in chronic kidney disease”. Renal terms were removed when the clinician’s search was performed with renal content filters.

†Number of non-relevant articles retrieved is expressed per relevant article, rounded up to nearest whole number.