Table 1 Study eligibility criteria
Review question: What factors are important for access to palliative care by women with advanced cancer of the uterine cervix in the low- and middle-income countries? |
Population: Women diagnosed with advanced cancer of the uterine cervix (advanced cancer being defined as any of the following: FIGO stage IB to IV; or presence of distant metastasis; or cancer that is life- limiting; or cancer with prognosis of 6 to 12 months); Age 19 years and older (this age group defines and adult); and/or family or caregiver of the patient; patient and caregiver residing in the LMICs. LMICS are classified as countries with Gross National Income per capita of US$1135 or less to US$13845 (https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups). Caregiver is defined as family or any person who attended to the needs of the patient during her illness Intervention(s), exposure (s):Any care given to relieve distressing symptoms, – physical or otherwise, before, alongside, or after the disease specific treatment, such as pain management, vaginal bleeding, vaginal discharge, and psychosocial support Comparator: Palliative care in any form is not provided Outcome: Specified or unspecified aspects of palliative care outcomes and/or associated outcomes such as problems or facilitators of access; physical or psychosocial needs; cultural factors; communication of needs – with family, healthcare staff, or other patients; underserved/minority groups – ethnic or socio-economic factors Outcome measures: Qualitative and/or quantitative with regard to availability, affordability, physical accessibility and acceptability of the care; primary palliative care use - access, provision, implementation, integration Setting: Home, hospice facility, outpatient oncology setting, outpatient non-oncology setting, in-patient oncology setting, and inpatient non-oncology setting |
Inclusion criteria:  • Original research involving data on adult women with advanced stage uterine cervical cancer, and/or their caregivers  • Studies of cancer patients, or gynecological cancer patients with an arm including patients with cervical cancer  • Studies conducted on patients and/or caregivers living in the LMICs.  • Any care intended to relieve distressing symptoms  • Outcome includes qualitative or quantitative measures  • Published anytime from inception of database  • Study design can include experimental studies (randomized controlled trials, other types of trials), observational studies (cohort studies, case-control studies, controlled and uncontrolled pre/post studies), retrospective studies, cross-sectional studies, qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method studies |
Exclusion criteria :  • Trials of medications or medical procedures related to primary cancer therapy  • Case reports, editorials, letters to the editor, commentaries, historical perspectives, reviews, gray literature including guidelines and protocols, newspaper articles, social media  • Review articles (not systematic review)  • Diseases other than cancer of cervix  • Studies reporting factors not expressed by patients or caregivers  • Papers published in any language other than English |