Table 1.

Study eligibility criteria

Eligibility criterion	Rationale
Randomized, controlled trial or prospective observational study, published in peer-reviewed journal	Randomized controlled trials and prospective observational study experimental designs are least likely to lead to biased results
Evaluates a structured communication tool (decision aid, structured meeting, educational strategy) compared to control group	• Interest in comparing wide variety of interventions, in multiple formats (verbal, paper, video, computer, etc.) • A control group is required to assess whether the intervention is better than usual care as routinely practiced (recognizing that usual care may vary based on setting)
Communication tool must address end-of-life decision-making	Review interest is in interventions that assist patients with decision-making, as opposed to those that address breaking bad news, patient comfort alone
Adult patients (age >18 years)	End-of-life decision-making process in frail adults is likely to be qualitatively different from that in children
English language	Communication tools published in other languages, with no English translation available, may not be generalizable to english-language settings