Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) life cycle of guideline development series: part 1: introduction to a new series

Abstract

The medical community has long recognized the role of kidney disease and its impact on overall health. This recognition was accompanied by acknowledging the need for guidelines that help standardize practice based on the best available evidence. More recently, kidney disease has been established as a global public health priority when the World Health Organization adopted the first-ever resolution focused on kidney health. Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) was established, more than 2 decades ago, to address this need. As KDIGO adapts its processes to meet the needs of a rapidly changing landscape, its strong commitment to transparency, inclusivity, and integrity in developing trustworthy guidelines based on the best available evidence persists. In this 7-article series about the KDIGO lifecycle of guideline development, we highlight a few aspects in the KDIGO guideline process. We also address areas that are frequently asked about by KDIGO end users and stakeholders. In this first article, we introduce the KDIGO guideline development process and summarize the different KDIGO products and deliverables.