Table 2.

Additional results

Code	Sub-code(s)	Aspects Perceived As Positive () And Negative ()	Quotes	Suggestion for Improvement
Design & Format	Layout, colours, presentation text	Friendly layout and colours	‘So I think the design is good. I think it’s friendly and clear’. (ID14)	More vivid colours and visuals to enliven the text
		Monotonous (a lot of text, pastel colours)	‘So the size of the text is not too small, I don’t think so. But it’s a lot of text’. (ID05) ‘[…] I have the impression that it could be depicted a bit more vividly, so that it doesn’t look completely uniform’. (ID09)
	Graphics, Structure and Info Boxes	Clear and comprehensible graphics Clear structure of content Info boxes as a preparation for physician–patient-talks	‘And I believe, […] that if patients have the possibility to read things again or to understand them again on the basis of the graphics, some of which are very successful, or maybe even come to the conclusion, oh, I didn’t even ask that, I would perhaps like to ask that again, then that would probably be a super helpful tool’. (ID02)	No suggestions for improvement based on mainly positive opinions
	Volume (number of pages)	Volume shows importance	‘[…] I think it shows patients that they are taken seriously. […] People want patients to know what disease they have, what options they have, who can support them’. (ID05)	Individual formats (e.g. chapters in separate brochures, unlock chapters step-by-step in online formats)
		Majority: Overwhelming volume	‘Well, I’m talking about the volume. They [the patients] panic when I show them such bulky brochures’. (ID20)
	Format	Participants prefer brochure-format Age might be a factor in preference, as younger patients might prefer PDF and older patients print	‘We can put something directly in the patient’s hand. This is a slightly more direct way than just giving them the link’. (ID16)
		PDF Limited access (problematic for patients without Internet access or those with little experience) Reading on screen may be exhausting because patients experience fatigue during treatment	‘In rural areas we have the patient groups, let’s say […] 65 years old and upwards […], who are not familiar with social media or Internet […]’. (ID19)
Comprehensibility	Wording	Plain and objective language Restricted use of medical words	‘In my opinion a lot of effort is being made to use plain language in order to make it understandable for laypeople. That means to use as few foreign medical words as possible […]’. (ID16)	Wording of ‘Patientenleitlinie’ (PVG) Patient information brochure
		Wording ‘Patientenleitlinie’(PVG): does not amplify the original meaning of PVGs	‘So, I think it’s good because it’s called patient guideline. […] However, a patient information brochure sometimes hits it a little bit better’. (ID04)
	Recommendations	Italic font in text	‘[…] They [recommendations] are written in italics and if I remember correctly, it also says somewhere in the introduction how they are linked to the CPG’. (ID01)	Put recommendations in bold print
		Difference in grading may be hard for patients to understand Hard to remember the definition of recommendations Italic font	‘But I think that not all patients on page 40, when it says “should”, still know what that means. I know that because I am used to reading long texts’. (ID03) ‘But in italics, now I see it. It’s down there, yes. Doesn’t stand out so much’. (ID04)
Content	Saturation of information	Most important aspects	‘So in terms of content, I think it’s very, very good’. (ID04)	Living PVGs to bring information up to date
		Missing content: information about self-care (e.g. breathing exercises), effects of sport exercises, treatment options for nausea, skin care, complementary medicine, information about long-term effects of treatments Not up to date (especially with regard to medications)	‘What breathing exercises can I do to relax myself when I notice that panic comes up just before the examination. Or when I get the results of the laboratory examination, how can I calm myself down now? These are very simple, concrete techniques that can be experienced’. (ID06) ‘But wait, if they want the latest information, so to speak, then PVGs [are] not the first choice’. (ID15)
Trust	In Content	Overall trust in content Recommend PVGs to patients, family and friends	‘Since the PVG provides information from the CPG in common language, I find it [PVG] incredibly trustworthy’ (ID15) ‘I could well imagine that I will recommend this [PVG] to patients more often.’ (ID19)
		Information on certain topics is not up to date (e.g. medications) Knowledge about methodical process in developing PVGs results in perceived inadequate content (e.g. complementary medicine)	‘So the fact that I know which criteria have to be fulfilled so that they can be evidence-based at all, I am differentiated. Because I think many things do not have the chance to be validated due to such narrow criteria […]’. (ID03)

Abbreviations: , Aspects perceived as positive from participants; , Aspects perceived as negative from participants; CPG, clinical practice guideline; PVG, Patient version of clinical guideline