Back to: Prepare Your Systematic Review Topic

Clinical decisions

A doctor researching kidney failure might have more clinical concerns: is it enough to diagnose kidney failure using a blood test paired with a mathematical formula or is it necessary to directly measure the patient’s Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR)? How do new treatment approaches compare to the standard approaches for treating kidney failure?

Policy decisions

A politician or an employee of a government agency might be looking at broader issues: what are the major stumbling blocks to decreasing the rate of chronic kidney disease? How might changes in reimbursement rates encourage early intervention? What are effective models for improving coordination between primary care physicians and nephrologists?

As you can see, the same broad topic generates entirely different sets of questions for different types of people and organizations.

On the next page, you’ll have a chance to write out your own set of motivations.