Table 2. Summary of the present study and progress made since the Tong, Sainsbury & Craig (2008) review.

Review	Number of studies	Experimental design	Setting	Treatment in focus	Intervention type	Tools and approaches	Content	Limitations	Effectiveness	Suggestions for future interventions
Tong, Sainsbury & Craig (2008)	3	Only non-RCTs found	Spain and India	HD, PD and kidney transplant	Educational	Booklets and oral and written information	HD and PD: knowledge about the treatment. Kidney Transplant: diet, immunosuppressive medication, secondary effects, protecting the graft, monitoring side-effects and importance of self-care.	Few studies found, only educational interventions and only non-RCT studies included.	Effective results. But insufficient evidence to confirm the benefit of the interventions and make recommendations.	Focus on participatory action research, using internet-based information, online support groups, psychological therapy and practical support.
This review	6	Only RCTs included	Iran	HD and PD*	Educational group sessions	CDs, booklets, lectures, group discussions, homework, question and answer time, relaxation techniques and role playing.	HD treatment, caregiver’s self-care, and self-efficacy improvement.	Insufficient evidence for PD patients, few studies found, only educational group sessions as intervention, all studies developed in the same country.	Interventions based on group sessions are effective to improve the well-being of family caregivers of patients on HD.	Multicomponent interventions focusing on both disease-related problems and caregivers’ personal demands, information and communication technologies (ICTs) and coping strategies.

Note:

^*None of the studies meeting our inclusion criteria have targeted caregivers of patients undergoing PD.