. 2020 Nov 21;24(1):135–151. doi: 10.1007/s11019-020-09986-9

Table 5.

Quality of the studies included in the systematic review

No.	Measure of evaluation	Evaluation tool attached to the paper		Comprehensive response dataset		Sample size	Sample description	Response rate	Evaluation rate of the papers included
No.	Measure of evaluation	Yes	No	Yes	No	Sample size	Sample description	Response rate	Low	Medium	High
1	Review of minutes of CECs' meetings, survey, semi-structured interviews		×		×	21 (survey) 14 (interviews)	CEC's members (current and former)	81% (survey) 66% (oral evaluation)	×
2	Survey	×		×		45	Consultation requestor (healthcare professionals, patients and families)	60%			×
3	Survey	×		×		1957	Staff and resident physicians, nurses, social workers, pastoral care staff	41%			×
4	3 surveys (pre-test, post-test + follow up)		×	×		157 (pre-test) 168 (post-test)	Nurses, physicians of critical and special care units (pre-test and post-test) Ethicists, nurses, physicians (follow-up)	29/10% (nurses/physicians) (pre-test) 18/19% (nurses/physicians) (post-test); 98% ethicists, 54% nurses, 52% physicians (follow-up)		×
5	Survey (2 versions: for healthcare staff and patient's family members	×		×		46	Healthcare staff (40) and patient's family members (6) involved in one of the 16 HEC consultations object of the evaluation	54% (staff members) 30% (family members)			×
6	Semi-structured interviews		×	×		8 (for 10 consultations)	Physicians (from 6 different hospitals)	50%		×
7	Survey		×	×		137	HEC chairpersons of hospitals with > 100 medical residents	83%		×
8	(Not applicable)					(Not applicable)	(not applicable)	(Not applicable)
9	Semi-structured interviews	×		×		15	Physicians who requested CEC consultation	–			×
10	Semi-structured interviews	×			×	10	Physicians who admitted at least 25 patients at local hospital in the previous 12 months	25% (met inclusion criteria)		×
11	Survey		×		×	72	Respondents from English language hospitals with > 300 beds	84.5%	×
12	Survey, Semi-structured interviews		×		×	?	Staff from 5 hospitals with a CEC: physicians, nurses and administrators	–	×
13	(Not applicable)					(Not applicable)	(Not applicable)	(Not applicable)
14	Web-based survey	×		×		35 (11 cases surveyed)	Staff involved in a consultation: consultants physicians (16), nurses (10), allied healthcare professionals (4), trainee physicians (3), social workers (2)	36%		×
15	Case discussion reports	×		×		17	(Not applicable)	46%			×
16	(Not applicable)					(Not applicable)	(Not applicable)	(Not applicable)
17	Survey	×		×		107	Chairpersons of French and English-language hospitals with a CEC and > 100 beds	51%			×
18	Case discussion reports		×	×		100 (for 98 patients)	(Not applicable)	(Not applicable)		×
19	Survey	×		×		236	CEC members of active and functioning CECs				×
20	Telephone semi-structured interview, revision of medical charts (to be compared with results from interviews)		×	×		34 physicians	Physicians requesting CEC consultations	94%		×
21	Survey (2 versions: CEC members, clinicians), each to be replied in relation to a single consultation	×		×		64	CECs' members and clinicians who took part in CEC meetings	52.7% (participating CECs) 63% (reported consultations)			×
22	Informal survey, anecdotal evidence		×		×	(Not available)	Local hospital staff	(Not available)	×
23	Survey		×	×		127	Chairperson of CECs from hospitals with > 100 beds and a major affiliation with a medical school	83%		×
24	(Not applicable)					(Not applicable)	(Not applicable)	(Not applicable)
25	Survey		×	×		545	Not available	29.3%		×
26	Case discussion reports		×	×		159	CEC members	(Not applicable)		×
27	Observations of committees deliberating a paper case (25 min) Semi-structured group interviews	×		×		9 CECS	CEC members				×
28	Case discussion reports		×		×	16	CEC ethicists	(Not applicable)	×
29	Survey, semi-structured interviews		×	×		56	Patients or surrogates	90.3%		×