eTable 1. Definition of sedative with continuous effect and dose judged as probably at least moderately sedating for the analyzed drugs, adapted from (e1).

Drug	Plasma half-life*1	Defined as sedative with continuous effect, when administered via continuous infusion ≥ 0.5 hours (h) or × times per day*2	Total daily dose judged as at least moderately sedating in these dying patients (oral dose equivalents, except for midazolam)*3
Clonazepam	30–40 h	1×	Not judged, as no information available regarding sedating effect for certain doses
Diazepam	1 h, active metabolites up to 100 h	1×	5 mg
Flunitrazepam	16–35 h	2×	2 mg
Lorazepam	12–19 h	2×	4 mg
Midazolam	Highly dependent on renal function, for patients > 60 years 1.5–10 h	7×	24 mg
Oxazepam	6–12 h	2×	30 mg
Lormetazepam	8–15 h	3×	3 mg
Haloperidol > 5 mg/day	13–36 h	1×	Not judged due to large variability in individual sedating effect
Levomepromazine	15–30 h	1×	30 mg
Propofol	2–4 min	-	Continuous administration judged as always used for at least moderate sedation

*¹ According to the drugs’ prescribing information and a widely used textbook for drug therapy in palliative care (e10, e14).

*² Agreed between specialist palliative care clinicians and pharmacists, based on the available data regarding the half-life and duration of action of the drugs in weak and/or elderly patients, as stated in the drugs’ prescribing information as well as a widely used textbook for drug therapy in palliative care (e10, e14).

*³ Agreed between specialist palliative care clinicians and pharmacists, based on the drugs’ prescribing information and other available literature (e4, e6, e8, e10, e15). For the drugs which are licensed for anxiety and agitation, we chose the highest licensed dose for elderly/weak patients. For the drugs licensed for sleep disorders, we made a clinical-pharmaceutical judgment as to which total daily dose would probably result in at least moderate sedation, based on the doses licensed for sleep disorders. For midazolam and levomepromazine, the judgment was based on the doses licensed for sedation in anesthesia or acute agitation, respectively, as well as the lowest doses recommended or reported for sedation in palliative care (e6, e8). We aimed for conservative judgements in order to underestimate rather than overestimate the number of patients with moderately sedating doses. For comparison, in two previous studies cut-off doses of midazolam 10 mg and levomepromazine 25 mg per 24 hours were used to define a sedating dose (e4, e15).