[Table/Fig-1]:

PICOS identifiers from research questions (’key terms’) and database- and thesaurus- derived alternatives (’additional terms’) used to generate database searches.

Variable	P	I	C	O		S
Key terms	All population in Kerala	NA	NA	Prevalence	Anaemia	All
Additional terms generated	Kerala	NA	NA	Prevalence, rates, proportion, magnitude*	Anaemia, Iron deficiency Haemoglobin*	All

^*indicate where all database terms based on the attached stem were included. Terms within each column were distinguished using the OR function and terms in different columns were combined using the AND function.