Protocol for a systematic review of the validity of animal models of polydipsia with a basis in schizophrenia aetiology.

Objective: Primary polydipsia most commonly affects those with schizophrenia. The pathophysiology of this occurrence is not established. The aim of this systematic review is to critically assess the internal and external validity of the preclinical animal models available.

Search Strategy: PubMed and Embase will be searched systematically to identify all relevant animal studies that describe polydipsia induction with a basis in schizophrenia aetiology. The SYRCLE (SYstematic Review Center for Laboratory animal Experimentation) search filters to identify all animal studies in both databases will be used. All studies published up to the date of the search will be considered.

Screening And Annotation: Two independent reviewers will screen the retrieved studies for eligibility based on (1) title and abstract and (2) full text. Disagreements between researchers will be resolved by discussion and referral back to the predefined eligibility criteria with involvement of a third researcher if required.