Table 2

Eligibility criteria and typical exclusion examples

Inclusion criteria	Typical exclusion examples
Population — adults living with multimorbidity: Studies must include adults (18 years and older) Studies must focus on those with multimorbidity—defined as 2 or more long-term conditions, not linked to an ‘index disease’	Studies focusing on patients with diabetes with renovascular disease (ie, has an index condition of diabetes)
Concept — problematic polypharmacy: Studies focusing on polypharmacy—defined as the concurrent use of multiple medications Studies that consider the long-term clinical impact of multiple medicines Studies that consider the consequences of multiple medicines or the ‘problematic’ element of polypharmacy	Studies focused on single medications Studies based on prescribing of antibiotics for acute presentations only Studies that are simply descriptive of the number of tablets taken and do not report any risk factors, outcomes or consequences
Context — primary care: Studies with relevance to primary care, including studies which crossed the primary-secondary care interface.	Studies solely on hospital-based pharmacists
Study type Studies written in English Studies presenting full descriptions of the research (eg, research studies, systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials, pilot studies and policy documents)	Letters, comments, conference abstracts, protocols, proceedings and so on.