Table 1.

Quality of systematic review (AMSTAR quality indicators)

Article	Primary goal	included studies	Quality of systematic review (AMSTAR quality indicators)
			Was a priori design provided?	Was there duplicate study selection and data extraction?	Was a comprehensive literature search performed?	Was the status of publication (ie, grey literature) used as an inclusion criterion?	Was a list of studies (included and excluded) provided?	Were the characteristics of the included studies provided?	Was the scientific quality of the included studies assessed and documented?	Was the scientific quality of the included studies used appropriately in formulating conclusions?	Were the methods used to combine the findings of studies appropriate?	Was the likelihood of publication bias assessed?	Was the conflict of interest included?
AMSTAR
Winkelmayer22	To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of renal replacement therapy	13 observational and economic modeling studies	Yes	Not mentioned	No, search restricted to English	Yes	Yes included No excluded	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Mowatt24	To assess the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of home HD compared with HD carried out in a hospital or satellite unit	27 reviews, comparative observational studies and randomized crossover trial	Yes	Yes	Non-English studies identified but not evaluated	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Funding source listed no conflict of interest statement
Murtagh14	To identify the prevalence of symptoms in patients with ESRD on HD, non-dialytic management and discontinuing dialysis	60 prospective and retrospective cross sectional data one of which collected longitudinal data	Yes	Study selection No data extraction Yes on a random sample	No, search restricted to English	No	Yes included No excluded	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Lazarides21	To compare outcomes of various angioaccess procedures in elderly patients	13 cohort observational studies	Yes	No	No, search restricted to English	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Schmitt19	To determine the incidence of non-recovery of kidney function after acute kidney injury	17 retrospective cohort and randomized controlled trials	Yes	Yes	No, search restricted to English	Yes	Yes included No excluded	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Morton9	To synthesize and analyze the views of patients and caregivers on decision making and choice for treatments in patients with chronic kidney disease	18 qualitative studies	Yes	Yes	No, search restricted to English	No	Yes included No excluded	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Johnson20	To formulate and express a prognostic assessment for a patient with acute renal failure requiring RRT in the Intensive care unit	41 cohort, and RCT studies	Yes	No	No, search restricted to English	Yes	Yes included No excluded	Yes but just number of patients, setting and outcomes, not study type	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Menzin23	To identify interventions in chronic kidney disease that provide reasonable value and potential to lower cost and improve quality	84 observational and economic modeling studies	Yes	Yes	No, search restricted to English	Yes	No	Some, description, time horizon perspective but not study type	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
O’Connor18	To summarize evidence on non-dialytic management of ESRD regarding prognosis and QoL	13 cohort, cross sectional and observational studies	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes included No excluded	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	No	Yes

Notes: Ninety-two citations identified in Ovid Medline In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus. Eighty-three citations excluded by review of title and abstract. Nine articles reviewed. Five articles excluded based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two nonsystematic reviews. Two reviews comparing specific dialysis techniques. One review assessing reasons for late referral. Four articles selected. Two additional articles identified through review of references. Three additional articles identified through expert colleagues. Nine articles included in final review.

Abbreviations: AMSTAR, a measurement tool to assess systematic reviews; ESRD, end-stage renal disease; HD, hemodialysis; QoL, quality of life; RRT, renal replacement therapy; RCT, randomized controlled trial.