Evidence for interventions Because CKD is common and BP levels are often elevated in CKD populations, the management of BP in CKD patients could have an enormous global impact. Given that the focus of the Guideline is on management and the comparative effectiveness of various interventions, the preferred and most robust evidence is derived from large-scale RCTs which assessed hard clinical outcomes. The ERT was asked to include RCTs with a minimum of 50 patients in each arm and interventions included pharmacological agents (alone or in combination), lifestyle modifications, and trials assessing various levels of BP control. Outcomes of interest were mortality, cardiovascular events and changes in kidney function including urine albumin or protein excretion. Reduction in BP, particularly when achieved using agents that interfere with the RAAS, can lead to acute reductions in kidney function and albuminuria; thus the minimal duration of follow-up in RCTs required for their inclusion in the evidence review was set at 1 year for kidney function, cardi- ovascular outcomes, and mortality and 3 months for urine albumin or protein levels. Because there were so few trials assessing lifestyle modifications, BP reduction was included as an outcome, with the minimum follow-up period set at 6 weeks. The approach to the evidence review is described in detail in Methods for Guideline Development. The ERT conducted a systematic review of RCTs involving individuals with CKD. This was supplemented with published systematic reviews and meta-analyses (which often included smaller RCTs). Work Group members further supplemented this yield with selected RCTs that included individuals at increased risk of CVD but who were not specifically chosen on the basis of having CKD. The Work Group also helped identify RCTs that included CKD subgroups. 