ICD Goldstein Interviews and constant comparative methods 12 healthcare professionals (electrophysiologists, cardiologists and generalists) To understand barriers to physician initiated discussions about ICD deactivation USA Goldstein Interviews and constant comparative methods 15 ICD-recipients (median age 69 years), 10 patients had their device for over a year and 8 patients had received a shock To understand patient barriers to discussions about ICDs in patients with advanced illness USA Kramer Focus groups and grounded theory 14 nurses who were registered from the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at the Mayo clinic To identify nurses' concerns relating to deactivating cardiac devices USA Interviews and thematic analysis 6 family members of ICD- recipients (3 children and 3 spouses) To explore family members' experiences of ICD decision making, in order to inform decision making and improve the quality of end of life care. USA Maclver Interviews and grounded theory analysis 25 heart failure patients with ICDs (mean age 62 years) To determine patient awareness and understanding of ICD deactivation Canada Morrison Survey and coding 112 palliative care professionals (51% physicians, 48% nurses and 1% other) To explore palliative care providers experiences and attitudes of managing ICDs USA Mueller Focus groups and content analysis 17 industry employed allied professionals working in a clinical setting to monitor cardiac implantable electronic devices, who had performed at least one device deactivation To identify issues related to role conflicts and moral distress experienced with the cardiovascular implantable electronic device industry USA Strachan Interviews and grounded theory 24 ICD recipients and 6 participants who declined an ICD (age 26 to 87 years) To examine patient experiences of end of life care issues Canada Svanholm Phenomenological and interpretive approach 11 ICD-recipients (mean age 82.8 years) who were expecting a device replacement within 2 years To identify areas for improvement in discussions between healthcare professionals and patients related to ICDs. 