TABLE II.

Characteristics of included studies

Study a	Caregiver	Study group		Control group (if applicable)
		(n)	Description	(n)	Description
Randomized controlled trials
Bohnenkamp et al. 2004 20	General oncology nurse	14	Age 18 years or older, able to read and write in English, have a permanent ostomy, have a working residence telephone line, randomly assigned to groups	14	Same as study group
Non-randomized controlled studies
Allen et al. 1995 21, Allen and Hayes 1995 22, Allen and Hayes 1994 18	Medical oncology physician	39	Oncology patients requiring consultation, weather would not permit oncologist to visit in person	21	Study patients seen subsequently in person
Doolittle et al. 1997 23	Medical oncology physician	103	Patients referred for initial consultation, reassessment, or follow-up; group inclusion criteria not reported	81	Same as study group, group inclusion criteria not reported
Phillips et al. 1998 24	Dermatology physician	51	Patients respond to flyers advertising skin cancer screening sessions	51	Study patients seen subsequently in person
Doolittle 2000 25, Whitten et al. 1998 26	Palliative care physician	50	Inclusion criteria not reported	50	Inclusion criteria not reported
Coelho et al. 2005 27	Genetic counselling nurse	18	Referred to clinical genetics because of history of breast/ovarian or colon cancer, closer to vc site than in-person site	21	Closer to in-person site than vc site, otherwise same as study group
Weinerman et al. 2005 10	Medical oncology physician	30	Have gastrointestinal malignancy, live in the catchment area of Nanaimo Regional Hospital, have adequate vision and hearing, sequential referrals until 30 consenting patients	30	Same as study group
Stalfors et al. 2005 11, Stalfors et al. 2003 28	Otolaryngology physicians (group review)	45	Inclusion criteria not reported	39	Inclusion criteria not reported
Case series
Kunkler et al. 1998 29	Medical oncology physician	8	New patient referrals of follow-up appointments, located in Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary	—	Not available
Gray et al. 2000 30	Genetic counselling nurse	8	Family history of cancer	—	Not available
Mair et al. 2000 31	Medical oncology physician	22	Age older than 18 years, free of mental impairment, no hearing or other impairment that would render telephone conversation difficult	—	Not available
Sezeur et al. 2001 32	Medical oncology physician	16	Inclusion criteria not reported	—	Not available
Doolittle et al. 2004 33	Medical oncology physician	121	Inclusion criteria not reported	—	Not available
Olver et al. 2005 34	Palliative care nurse	20	Inclusion criteria not reported	—	Not available
Laila et al. 2008 17	Medical oncology physician	6	Receiving chemotherapy, age older than 18 years, life expectancy > 12 weeks, vital signs state, receiving specialist medical care from home	—	Not available

^aMultiple studies at a single entry describe the same patient population.