Table 1.

Studies’ characteristics.

Authors and Year of Publication	Country	Sample Characteristics	Method of Approach	CASP Checklist n. of Items Fulfilled/n. of Items
Ramlee et al. [40]	England	n = 6 (3♀/3♂) Mean age = 49 years	Personal semi-structured interviews	10/10
Russell et al. [41]	North Ireland	n = 14 (12♀/2♂)	Focus groups	10/10
Vincent et al. [42]	USA	n = 44 (34♀/10♂) Mean age: 45 years	Open-ended interview administered electronically	10/10
Kleinman et al. [43]		n = 34 (30♀/4♂) Mean age = 47.8 years	Focus groups	9/10
Traska et al. [44]	USA	n = 8♀ Mean age = 61 years	Interview group	9/10
Sallinen et al. [45]	Finland	n = 20♀ Mean age = 54 years	Narrative interview	9/10
Humphrey et al. [46]	USA Germany France	n = 40 Mean age = 48.7 years	Open-ended interviews	10/10
Theadom et al. [17]	England	n = 16 (14♀/2♂) Mean age (50.95 years)	Semi-structured interviews	9/10
Martin et al. [47]	USA	n = 20 (16♀/4♂) Mean age = 50.3 years	Personal structured interviews	9/10
Lempp et al. [48]	England	n = 12 (11♀/1♂) Mean age = 49 years	Personal semi-structured interviews	9/10
Arnold et al. [49]	USA	n = 48♀ Mean age = 51 years	Focus groups	9/10
Crooks [50]	Canada	n = 55♀	Personal semi-structured interviews	9/10
Cunningham et al. [51]	Canada	n = 8 (7♀/1♂) Age range 30-70	Personal in-depth interviews	9/10
Söderberg et al. [52]	Sweden	n = 25♀ Mean age = 46.8 years	Personal narrative interviews	9/10
Cudney et al. [53]	USA	n = 10♀	Unstructured, online support group	9/10
Sturge-Jacobs [54]	Canada	n = 9♀ Age range 20-57 years	Personal unstructured interviews	10/10
Raymond and Brown [55]	Canada	n = 7 (6♀/1♂)	Personal in-depth semi-structured interviews	9/10

CASP: Critical Appraisal Skills Programme; ♂: male; ♀ female.