Table 1

Characteristics of studies

Reference	Study design Sample size	Setting	Participants	Comparator/control groups	Outcomes				Follow-up
Reference	Study design Sample size	Setting	Participants	Comparator/control groups	Dignity	Psychological	Spiritual	Quality of life	Follow-up
Chochinov et al 11	3-arm RCT N=326	Hospital or community-based palliative care	Patients with terminal illness	SPC (n=111) CCC (n=107)	PDI	Anxiety and depression (HADS)	FACIT spiritual well-being scale; Hope (SISC)	2-item QoL scale	N/A
Hall et al 12	RCT N=45	Hospital palliative care (both inpatient and outpatient)	Patients with advanced cancer	SPC (n=23)	PDI	Anxiety and depression (HADS)	Hope (HHI)	EQ-5D, two items assessing QoL)	1 week and 4 weeks after DT
Iani et al 22	RCT N=64	Palliative care unit	Terminally ill patients	SPC (n=32)	N/A	N/A	FACIT spiritual well-being scale	N/A	7–10 days, 15–20 days
Jia et al 23	RCT N=62	In-patient palliative care	Patients with advanced lung cancer	SPC (n=31)	N/A	Anxiety (SAS) Depression (SDS)	N/A	N/A	1 month after DT
Julião et al 24	RCT N=80	Inpatient palliative care	Patients with terminal illness	SPC (n=39)	PDI	N/A	DfD; DS	N/A	Day 4, day 15 and day 30 after DT
Julião et al 25	RCT N=80	Inpatient palliative care	Patients with terminal illness	SPC (n=39)	N/A	Anxiety and depression (HADS)	N/A	N/A	Day 4, day 15 and day 30 after DT
Vuksanovic et al 26	3-arm RCT N=70	Hospital and home palliative care	Patients with advanced illness	SPC (n=24) LR (n=23)	PDI	N/A	N/A	FACT-G	N/A
Wang and Zhang27	RCT N=94	In-patient palliative care	Patients with advanced lung cancer	SPC (n=47)	PDI	Anxiety (SAS) Depression (SDS)	N/A	N/A	10 days after DT
Xu et al 28	RCT N=50	In-patient palliative care	Patients with advanced cancer	SPC (n=25)	N/A	N/A	N/A	QoL	N/A

CCC, client-centred care; DfD, desire for death; DS, demoralisation syndrome; DT, dignity therapy; EQ-5D, EuroQoL-5 Dimension; FACIT, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy; FACT-G, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HHI, Herth Hope Index; LR, life review; N/A, not available; PDI, Patient Dignity Inventory; QoL, quality of life; RCT, randomised controlled trial; SAS, Self-rating Anxiety Scale; SDS, Self-rating Depression Scale; SISC, Structured Interview for Symptoms and Concerns; SPC, standard palliative care.