Table 1.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria and search string

Inclusion criteria	- written in English
	- concerns factors influencing patient choice or general choice theories regarding choices in health care
	- factors focused on are studied from a patient perspective or are determined by means of patient registration data analysis
	- does not solely concern the organization of a country’s health insurance system
	- reports empirical research (is not a commentary)
	- is a scientific paper
Post-hoc exclusion criteria	- reports
	- studies before 1995
	- studies from non-Western countries
Search string in PubMed	("patient choice"[TIAB] OR "patients choice"[TIAB] OR "patients' choice"[TIAB] OR "consumer choice"[TIAB] OR "consumers choice"[TIAB]) AND (provider[TIAB] OR providers[TIAB] OR hospital[TIAB] OR hospitals[TIAB] OR physician[TIAB] OR physicians[TIAB] OR doctor[TIAB] OR doctors[TIAB])