Table 2.
Characteristics of included systematic reviews (n = 16)
| Review | Meta-analysis | NCDs studied | Humanitarian context | Countries/Regions of included primary studies | Date last searched | Number of primary studies included in the review | Publication date range of included primary studies | Design of primary studies included | Quality assessment tool | GRADE use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asgary et al., 2022 [30] | No | Multiple NCDs and combined interventions | natural disaster, Political conflict, refugee setting, Earthquake, Tsunami, Civil conflict, armed conflict, Nuclear reactor accident, Hurricane Katrina, Typhoon Haiyan |
US, Puerto Rico, Japan, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Sudan, Lebanon, West Bank, Gaza Strip, DRC, Turkey, Pakistan, Thailand, China, India, Philippines, Kurdistan, Armenia, Middle East, Eastern Europe, South Asia Countries income level: Both HICs and LMICs |
Not specified | 48 | 2000–2021 | review, cross-sectional, systematic review, cohort, Simulation Model, Mixed methods, Case Series Study, qualitative, cost-analysis, pilot study, Descriptive analysis, RCT, Modeling, Reports, brief communication | N/A | No |
| Babaie et al., 2021 [23] | No | Cardiovascular diseases | natural disasters such as earthquake, flood, storm, hurricane, cyclone, typhoon, and tornado. |
Japan, China, New Zealand, Italy, Taiwan, US, Armenia, UK, Greece Countries income level: Both HICs and LMICs |
Not specified | 104 | 1980–2020 | case-control, cohort, Cross Sectional, observational, qualitative, Longitudinal, RCT | N/A | No |
| Bitterfeld et al., 2025 [24] | No |
-Cancer -Diabetes |
Refugee populations |
USA Countries income level: HICs |
14/Jan/2023 | 37 | 2005–2022 | cohort, non-randomized experimental studies, qualitative, randomized controlled trials, retrospective studies, quality improvement projects, mixed-methods, and cross-sectional. | Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) | No |
| Buford et al., 2022 [31] | No | Multiple NCDs and combined interventions | internally or externally displaced populations |
USA, Canada, Lebanon, Germany, The Netherlands, Jordan, Colombia, Switzerland, Turkey, Finland Countries income level: Both HICs and LMICs |
Not specified | 32 | 2009–2021 | cohort, cross-sectional, descriptive studies, RCT |
modified Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool, Newcastle-Ottawa tool, Joanna Briggs Institute assessment |
No |
| Daalen et al., 2022 [27] | No | Diabetes | Man-made crises (human conflict, IDP camps, refugees, Civil war), Environmental (drought, food crisis, flooding, COVID-19 pandemic) |
Niger, Somalia, Afghanistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Cameroon, Uganda, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Mexico, Kenya and Togo. Countries income level: LMICs |
Not specified | 23 | 2010–2022 |
randomised control trials, cohort studies, quasi-experimental studies, non-randomised control trials, a cross-sectional study and qualitative study designs using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions or observations. |
Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool | No |
| Doocy et al., 2023 [32] | No | Multiple NCDs and combined interventions | armed conflict, disease outbreaks and environmental disasters, refugees and internally displaced persons. |
Africa, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe Countries income level: LMICs |
2013 | 269 | 2013–2021 | experimental and quasi-experimental studies, observational studies, mixed-methods studies, economic evaluations | criteria adapted from Cochrane risk of bias tools, criteria adapted from Campbell Collaboration for economic evaluations, an adapted version of a mixed-methods assessment tool developed by Pluye et al. | No |
| Ghazanchaei et al., 2022 [33] | No | Multiple NCDs and combined interventions | earthquakes, hurricanes, natural and man-made disasters, floods, mass gatherings. |
USA, Japan, Iran, Australia, Denmark, Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Canada, Italy Countries income level: Both HICs and LMICs |
Not specified | 42 | 1997–2019 | Systematic reviews, quantitative studies, qualitative studies, cohort, experimental, cross-sectional, longitudinal. | Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) | No |
| Gorji et al., 2018 [25] | No | Cancer | Earthquake, Tsunami, Hurricane, natural disasters, nuclear accident | Not specified | Not specified | 7 | 2005–2016 | Not specified | N/A | No |
| Jaung et al., 2021 [34] | No | Multiple NCDs and combined interventions | armed conflict, earthquake, tsunami, tropical cyclone, hurricane |
Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Jordan, Myanmar, Philippines, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, West Bank, Iraq, Gaza Strip, Nepal, Pakistan, China, India Countries income level: LMICs |
01/Nov/2020 | 45 | 2000–2019 | Mixed methods design, cohort studies, cross-sectional studies, qualitative investigations, case studies, randomized control designs | The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) | No |
| McGowan et al., 2020 [28] | No | Diabetes | Armed conflict |
Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Haiti, DRC, Afghanistan Countries income level: LMICs |
03/Apr/2019 | 5 | 2011–2019 | quasi-experimental longitudinal study, retrospective longitudinal studies, a cross-sectional, case study, qualitative studies |
Quality in Qualitative Evaluation framework and the NIH Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-sectional Studies |
No |
| Mohamed et al., 2024 [22] | No | Cancer | Somali immigrants and refugees |
Somalia Countries income level: LMICs |
Not specified | 8 | 2013–2021 | randomized controlled trials and non-randomized studies |
RoB 2: A revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials and risk of bias in non-randomized studies-of interventions (ROBINS-I) |
Yes |
| Racine et al., 2023 [21] | Yes | Cancer | Muslim refugee and immigrant women |
United States of America, Israel, Turkey, and Jordan Countries income level: Both HICs and LMICs |
Not specified | 14 | 2010–2020 |
quasi-experimental, randomized clinical trials, and longitudinal retrospective study |
Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) | No |
| Ruby et al., 2015 [9] | No |
-Cardiovascular diseases -Diabetes |
armed conflict, earthquake, refugee settings |
Afghanistan, Georgia, India, Jordan, and Turkey Countries income level: LMICs |
Not specified | 8 | 1997–2014 | RCT, observational studies, cohort, case series, interrupted time series | Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) and Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool | No |
| Shah et al., 2020 [35] | No | Multiple NCDs and combined interventions | women and children in conflict settings |
Thailand, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Sudan, Mali, DRC, Nepal, Pakistan, India Countries income level: LMICs |
Not specified | 27 | 1997–2018 | Observational studies, Mixed methods, Case Study, RCT | N/A | No |
| Siddiq et al., 2020 [26] | No | Cancer | Muslim refugee women |
USA Countries income level: HICs |
Not specified | 20 | 2002–2019 | qualitative studies, quasi-experimental studies, prospective analyses, Intervention studies | Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) and a tool developed by Fowkes and Fulton | No |
| Song & Lee, 2021 [29] | No | Diabetes | Refugees, IDPs and host communities in LMICs |
Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine (Gaza Strip, West Bank), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Thailand, and Malaysia Countries income level: LMICs |
July 2020 | 19 | 2014–2020 | cohort studies, cross-sectional studies, qualitative studies, field reports, mixed-methods, quasi-experimental studies, randomised controlled trial (RCT) | Newcastle Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS), Cochrane collaboration’s tool, Risk of Bias in Non-randomised studies of intervention tool (ROBINS-I), Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) | No |