Table 1

The Systematic Review Question Design According to the PRISMA Guidelines19

PopulationInterventionComparisonOutcomesStudy Design
Main concept
Primary care practitioners
Primary care patients
Cancer risk assessment tool to determine a primary care patient’s individual risk of cancerStandard clinical careClinicians
 Clinical outcomes including appropriate referral behavior
 Patterns and accuracy of risk perception
 Cancer knowledge
 Frequency of use
 Acceptability by physicians
 Confidence of use by clinicians
 Attitudes to the tool
Patients
 Patient cancer anxiety/worry
 Acceptability by patients
 Patient behavior including uptake of secondary referral behavior
 Adherence to screening recommendations
 Intention to undergo screening
 Satisfaction with consultation
Randomized controlled trials
Synonyms/search terms
Primary care
Primary care clinicians
Primary care physicians
Family practice
General practice
GPs
Patients
Risk-assessment tool
Clinical tool
Risk-prediction tool
Decision-support tool
Risk-assessment model
Computer decision-support tool
Adult population
Cancer
Family history [and synonyms for family]
Standard care
Usual care
Acceptability
Effectiveness
Frequency of use
Referral data
Appropriateness of management
Risk accuracy
Patient risk perception
Psychosocial outcomes
Cancer worry
Patient behavior
  • GP = general practitioner; PRISMA = Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.