Table 2.
Characteristics of the papers by publication period
| Publication year | |||
| before 01.01.1999 | after 01.01.1999 | total | |
| N = 160 | N = 191 | N = 351 | |
| % | % | % | |
| Kind of journal | |||
| medical | 23 | 30 | 27 |
| nursing | 43 | 29 | 35 |
| psychological | 7 | 12 | 10 |
| bioethical or social science | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| public health | 11 | 13 | 12 |
| multidisciplinary | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Paper type | |||
| original article | 91 | 88 | 89 |
| methodological paper | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| review | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| not evaluable | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sample size* | |||
| <15 | 19 | 24 | 22 |
| 15–50 | 26 | 22 | 24 |
| >50 | 38 | 40 | 39 |
| Not specified | 17 | 14 | 15 |
| Declared methodological approach* | |||
| phenomenological | 8 | 2 | 5 |
| grounded theory | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| anthropological | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| ethnographic | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Other | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Not specified | 73 | 80 | 76 |
| Data gathering method* | |||
| observation | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| interview | 65 | 55 | 59 |
| focus group | 8 | 12 | 11 |
| narrative | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| multiple method | 4 | 12 | 8 |
| Not specified | 12 | 15 | 14 |
| Typology of subjects involved* | |||
| Cancer patients | 46 | 49 | 48 |
| Family | 15 | 18 | 17 |
| Nurse | 13 | 3 | 7 |
| General population | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| Other health care workers | 9 | 11 | 10 |
| Miscellanea | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Not evaluable | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Main theme considered* | |||
| Illness experience | 17 | 22 | 20 |
| Information/communication | 13 | 17 | 15 |
| Cancer prevention | 12 | 10 | 11 |
| End of life | 9 | 11 | 10 |
| Psychological aspects | 9 | 5 | 7 |
| Nursing practice | 7 | 1 | 4 |
| Palliative care | 6 | 14 | 10 |
| Cultural aspects and attitudes | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Pain | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Fatigue | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Coping style | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Quality of life | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Needs assessment/satisfaction | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Miscellanea | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| Not evaluable | 2 | 3 | 2 |
* Calculations performed only on original articles (total n = 314)