Table 4.

GRADE-CERQUAL summary of findings

Review finding	Studies contributing	Methodological limitations	Relevance	Coherence number of studies	Adequacy number of themes	Overall confidence
Am i ill or is this normal?	[116–121, 123, 125, 129–131, 133–135, 137–142, 144–146, 150, 151, 153, 154, 156]	3 key paper, 38 satisfactory	34 direct, 3 indirect, 3 partial	28/41	80	High 20 to 31 studies contributed 69 to 93 concepts that supported these themes. We also found rich use of narrative to support the themes
It effects who i am and how i feel	[126, 127, 129–131, 133–137, 139, 141–145, 148, 149, 151, 153]	2 key paper, 39 satisfactory	37 direct, 3 indirect 1 partial	20/41	69
I feel stigmatised, ashamed and guilty	[116–119, 121–125, 127–131, 134–137, 140–145, 149, 152, 155, 156]	4 key paper, 37 satisfactory	38 direct, 2 indirect 1 partial	28/41	80
Talking can be difficult (but it can help)	[116–120, 122–125, 128–134, 137, 138, 140, 142, 144–149, 151, 153–156]	3 key paper, 38 satisfactory	33 direct, 5 indirect, 3 partial	31/41	93
I must keep incontinence under control	[116–123, 125, 127, 128, 131, 133–143, 150–153, 155, 156]	4 key paper, 37 satisfactory	34 direct, 4 indirect, 3 partial	29/41	76
Have i got to the point that i need help?	[118, 125, 134, 135, 145, 146, 150, 154, 155]	1 key paper, 40 satisfactory	40 direct, 1 indirect	9/41	17	Moderate downgraded due to fewer studies contributing although narrative rich