Critical appraisal and comparison of clinical practice guideline recommendations for the treatment of anaemia in chronic kidney disease: a systematic review protocol.

INTRODUCTION

In chronic kidney disease (CKD), anaemia develops and evolves as kidney dysfunction progresses. The treatment of anaemia is described in clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), which are designed to report the most relevant evidence for clinical practice in disease management. This study will analyse CPGs for transparency, methodological quality and quality of recommendations for their implementation over time, and also compare recommendations for the treatment of anaemia outlined in these documents.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: CPGs will be identified by conducting a systematic search of the data sources CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, Scielo, Scopus, ProQuest, Trip Database, Virtual Health Library, Web of Science, and guidelines on websites, published between January 2009 and December 2025. Three reviewers will, independently, evaluate the methodological quality of the guidelines using the Appraisal of Guidelines for REsearch and Evaluation II (AGREE-II) tool and the quality of recommendations using the AGREE - Recommendations Excellence tool. The treatment recommendations for anaemia in CKD will be summarised and compared. Results will be presented in tables and descriptive statistics will be compiled for all domains of the tools.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This is a literature-based study and, therefore, no ethical approval will be required. Results of the study can be submitted for publication in high-impact, peer-reviewed scientific journals, and also presented at national and international conferences.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42024629656.