Table 1.

Study characteristics

First author year	Country	Study design	Study aims	Study population	Source*	Age in years, median (IQR)
Leighl et al 18	Australia and Canada	RCT	Evaluate the impact of a decision aid	207 patients with advanced, incurable metastatic colorectal cancer 13 medical oncologists	R	Patients in the control group: 62.5 Patients in the intervention group: 61
Hollen et al 40	USA	Prospective descriptive study	Explore the feasibility and acceptability of a decision aid Present clinical profiles of patients and their supporters dealing with cancer treatment	80 patients with solid tumours (22 with newly diagnosed breast cancer, 19 with advanced prostate cancer, and 39 with advanced lung cancer) 80 patient supporters 10 Healthcare professionals (nurses and physicians)	R	Both patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer and their supporters: 55 Patients with advanced prostate cancer: 72, their caregivers: 60 Patients with advanced lung cancer: 62, supporters: 56
Walczak et al 37	Australia and USA	Qualitative (focus group and interviews)	Explore acceptability, perceived benefits and challenges of using a question prompt list facilitating discussion of end-of-life care Determine the necessity of country-specific adaptations of the QPL	34 patients with advanced, incurable cancer and a life expectancy <12 months (15 Australian patients, 19 US patients) 13 oncology and palliative care health professionals (7 Australian professionals, 6 US professionals)	S	Australian patients: 68 (54–86) US patients: 58 (34–75) Australian healthcare professionals: 45 (39–50) US healthcare professionals: N/A
Yeh et al 38	USA	Quantitative, non-randomised	Assess feasibility of a question prompt list in oncology consultations	27 patients with advanced or metastatic head and neck cancer (stage III/IV)	S	Patients: 57 (35–87)
Walczak et al 36	Australia	Qualitative	Explore nurse-led communication support programme with question prompt list that promotes end-of-life discussions	31 patients (life expectancy <12 months) with advanced, incurable cancer 11 informal caregivers	S	Patients: 63 (33–85) Caregivers: 62 (36–75)
Walczak et al 35	Australia	RCT (parallel group)	Evaluate efficacy of a nurse-facilitated communication support programme for patients with advanced, incurable cancer	110 patients (life expectancy <12 months) with advanced, incurable cancer	S	Patients 64 (33–88)
Henselmans et al 39	The Netherlands	Mixed methods	Examine patients’ and relatives’ views on patient communication aid for supporting decision making. Examine whether the aid has adverse effects on patients’ well-being	31 patients with advanced cancer and life expectancy <12 months (13 patients in study 1, 18 patients in study 2) 14 relatives (study 1) 6 oncologists (study 2)	E	Patients study 1: 64 (35–74). Relatives 45 (18–69) Patients study 2: 62 (41–75)

Source: S=Systematic search, E=experts, R=reference lists.

N/A, not available; QPL, question prompt list; RCT, randomised controlled trial.