10.3.2 Review question: What criteria should determine when to discuss defibrillator deactivation? For full details see review protocol in appendix A. Table 145: Characteristics of review question Objective To understand the views of patients, family, carers and healthcare staff regarding the timing of discussions about the deactivation of ICDs. Chronic Heart Failure Advanced heart failure and palliative care NICE 2018. All rights reserved. Subject to Notice of rights. ISBN: 978-1-4731-3093-7 Population and setting Patients with heart failure in a primary care, outpatient or community setting. Context Any description of patient, family, carer or healthcare staff experiences or preferences relating to the timing of discussions regarding the deactivation of an ICD. Review strategy Synthesis of qualitative research. Results presented in narrative format. Quality of the evidence will be assessed by a GRADE CerQual approach for each review finding. 10.3.3 Qualitative evidence This evidence review was developed using the methods and process described in Developing NICE guidelines: the manual236 . Methods specific to this review question are described in the review protocol in appendix A. Declarations of interest were recorded according to NICE s 2014 conflicts of interest policy. 10.3.3.2 Summary of included studies these are summarised in Table 146 below. Key findings from these studies are summarised in Section 10.3.3.3 below. See also the study selection flow chart in appendix C, study evidence tables in appendix F, and excluded studies lists in appendix I. Five of these studies explored patient experiences, 6 explored healthcare professional experiences and 2 explored family member experiences. Table 146: Summary of studies included in the review Study Design Population Research aim Setting Brannstrom Interviews and thematic content analysis cardiologists, 12 internists) To describe healthcare professionals' experiences in end of life care for heart failure patients. 