Table 1.
Type of studies included in the literature review
| Chronic illness | Number of studies | Share of total studies included in the review | Type of studies included, (N) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes | 33 | 73 | Retrospective, observational study (2) |
| Retrospective, case study (3) | |||
| Literature review (24) | |||
| Meta-analysis (1) | |||
| Clinical study (1) | |||
| Multi-centre cross sectional study (1) | |||
| National reporting data analysis (1) | |||
| Hypertension/cardiovascular disease | 28 | 62 | Nested case-control design (1) |
| Literature review (22) | |||
| Observational study (1) | |||
| Retrospective case series analysis (2) | |||
| Multi-centre cross sectional study (1) | |||
| National reporting data analysis (1) | |||
| COPD/other respiratory illnesses | 11 | 24 | retrospective cohort study (1) |
| clinical analysis of electronic records (1) | |||
| literature review (8) | |||
| Retrospective case series analysis (1) | |||
| Chronic kidney disease | 9 | 20 | Retrospective case series analysis (1) |
| literature review (8) | |||
| Cancer | 10 | 22 | retrospective cohort study (2) |
| Literature review (7) | |||
| Multi-centre cross sectional study (1) | |||
| Chronic liver disease | 4 | 9 | Literature review (4) |
| Asthma | 7 | 16 |
demographic analysis (1) Study of medical records (1) |
| Literature review (5) |