Table 1

PICAR statement: inclusion and exclusion criteria

Population, clinical indication(s), and condition(s)	Study population: Include: Children (newborn (>38 weeks gestations) to 18 years of age) Exclude: premature infants and adults Clinical indications: Include: management of either pain (including postoperative, persistent and prolonged pain), sedation, delirium or iatrogenic withdrawal Exclude: Management specific to medications, chronic and procedural pain of short duration, procedural sedation provided in other care settings (eg, dentistry, radiology, endoscopy) or for short duration Conditions: Include: children in intensive care
Interventions	Any intervention focusing on the on-going management of either pain, sedation, delirium or iatrogenic withdrawal
Comparator(s), comparison(s) and (key) content	Comparator/comparison: Any Key content: If a broad population is included, the CPG must have separate recommendations for children The CPG can be implemented in the intensive care setting but does not need to be specifically developed for intensive care The CPG must include recommendations on assessment for either pain, sedation, delirium or iatrogenic withdrawal
Attributes of eligible CPGs	Language: No restrictions Year of publication: 2010 onward Setting: Include: Applicable to paediatric intensive care, can be broad/general Exclude: CPGs developed specifically for other settings: neonatal intensive care units, emergency department, pre-operative/operating room Developing/publishing organisation: Include: CPGs issued or endorsed by international, national or regional societies/professional organisations, or governments from developed countries Exclude: CPGs that were developed by an individual organisation (eg, hospital) or unit within an organisation Version: Latest/newest version (preceding versions will be excluded) Type: CPGs, consensus statements, practice/position recommendations/alerts/statements Quality score: The AGREE II will be used to assess quality but will not be used as a criterion to determine eligibility for inclusion in this systematic review
Recommendations characteristics and ‘other’ considerations	Recommendations: CPGs must have at least one specific recommendation for assessment for either pain, sedation, delirium or iatrogenic withdrawal (either explicitly highlighted as a recommendation (primary) or noted in the body of the text (secondary—not explicitly identified as a recommendation))

AGREE, Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation; CPG, clinical practice guideline; PICAR, population, intervention, comparators, attributes and recommendation.