Table 1.

Screening/eligibility criteria for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Domain	Inclusion Criteria	Exclusion Criteria
Population	Adult (≥18 years) patients with MDS	Publications reporting on patient populations in the following categories: Children Healthy volunteers
Prognostic/predictive factors	Studies must have assessed and reported SF levels using quantitative methods *	NA
Outcomes	Clinical outcomes Incidence of complications related to iron overload, including cardiac failure, hypogonadism, hypothyroidism, carcinoma, diabetes, liver failure Time to development of AML Progression to high-risk disease PFS OS Treatment duration Subsequent therapies, or combinations of different types of ICTs, or maintenance on personalized regimen Total mortality Liver fibrosis, stiffness, or siderosis Skeletal outcomes such as bone disease, density, osteoporosis, skeletal changes, or fracture Cardiac siderosis Pulmonary hypertension Fertility Humanistic outcomes Utility studies HRQoL (e.g., EQ-5D, SF-36, and EORTC QLQ-C30) Economic outcomes: Healthcare resource utilization ○Specialist visits ○Unscheduled physician visits ○Emergency room visits ○Transfusion clinic visits ○Hospitalization Costs ○Direct ○Total treatment ○Healthcare and social care ○Indirect ○Productivity ○Absenteeism and presenteeism	Publications that only report data on the following types of outcomes: pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics
Study designs	Observational cohort studies (prospective or retrospective) RCTs	Publications of studies with the following designs: Animal studies In vitro/ex vivo studies Gene expression/protein expression studies Narrative publications Nonsystematic reviews Case studies Case reports Editorials
		Systematic reviews and meta-analysis (will be included for reference checking only. Full papers will be excluded using a separate exclusion code)
Duplicate	If duplicates are identified, the copy of the record with the lower ref ID number will be included	Publications that are duplicates of other publications in the search yield The copy of the record with higher ref ID number will be excluded
Study limits	Only English language articles/conference abstracts were included	Journal articles and conference abstracts not in the English language
	Studies published from 2009 to present † Conference proceedings from 2018 to present were searched	Studies published outside the timeframe of interest
Geography	None

* Studies assessing efficacy of an intervention without investigating relationship of SF level and outcomes were excluded. Studies assessing relationship between SF level and any of outcomes of interest listed in table above are of interest. Studies with quantitative outcomes refer to those based on univariate or multivariate models or adjusted analysis with some kind of quantification results, as opposed to studies making unsupported statements about association in discussion (which would be excluded). † This limit ensured we had most recent and relevant data as older studies did not account for impact of current disease management on association between SF levels and outcomes. Abbreviations: AML, acute myeloid leukemia; EORTC QLQ-C30, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Version 3.0; EQ-5D, EuroQoL 5-dimension health survey; HRQoL, health-related quality of life; ICT, iron chelation therapy; MDS, myelodysplastic syndromes; NA, not applicable; OS, overall survival; PFS, progression-free survival; RCT, randomized controlled trial; SF, serum ferritin; SF-36, 6-item Short Form Survey.