Table 2

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

	Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria
Type of document	Explicit statement identifying the document as a ‘practice guideline’ in line with the definition in MEDLINE. According to this definition, a ‘practice guideline’ is a ‘work consisting of a set of directions or principles to assist the health care practitioner with patient care decisions about appropriate diagnostic, therapeutic, or other clinical procedures for specific clinical circumstances’30.	All documents contrary to the definition of a ‘practice guideline’ published on MEDLINE, such as documents not accredited by a national authority, results of studies, study protocols, systematic literature reviews, descriptions of the procedure, expert opinion without a consensus conference, commentaries, letters and editorials.
Subject of document	Palliative sedation for adults (without explicitly specifying, such as cancer or geriatric patients), in all contexts of palliative care, such as a palliative care unit, inter-hospital palliative care mobile team, intra-hospital palliative care mobile team or patient’s home.	Sedation in other contexts (eg, anaesthesia, intensive medicine, emergency medicine, or radiology) and/or for other populations (eg, neonatology and paediatrics) or explicitly specified (eg, cancer patients).
Source	Texts developed by government agencies, associations, organisations, such as professional societies or governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels.	Texts developed by institutions, such as a hospital.
Scope	Texts accredited at the international, national or regional level.	Texts not accredited at the international, national, or regional level, such as internal hospital practice guidelines.
Target audience	Medical and paramedical staff.	Other than medical and paramedical staff.
Language of publication	English, German, French, Italian or Polish (as native languages or used fluently by the authors of this paper).	Published in a language other than English, German, French, Italian, or Polish.
Year of publication	From 2000 to the date of the searches.	Before 2000.
Version	If there is more than one version of a specific guideline, only the latest and most up-to-date version. If a short and long version exist, only the long version.	All versions not in force currently and/or a short version.
Availability	Only full text.	No full text accessible.
Definition of sedation	Explicit or implicit definition (two items required: duration and depth of sedation).	Lack of definition, or lack of one or both of the two items required (duration and depth of sedation).