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Table 1 Characteristics of included studies

From: Experiences of frontline healthcare workers and their views about support during COVID-19 and previous pandemics: a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis

Author (year)

Country

Virus type

Sample

Study design (method of analysis)

Aghaizu et al. [27]

England, Hungary, Germany & Greece

SARS-CoV

49 healthcare workers

6 focus groups (thematic analysis)

Al Knawy et al. [42]

Saudi Arabia

MERS-CoV

28 mixed healthcare workers (9 management decision-makers and 19 healthcare workers)

Individual interviews and focus groups (process evaluation and thematic analysis)

Andertun et al. [36]

Sierra Leone

Ebola

9 (8 nurses and 1 physician)

Individual narrative and focus group interviews (qualitative content analysis)

Bensimon et al. [40]

Canada

SARS-CoV

67 mixed healthcare workers (25 healthcare providers - paramedics, respiratory therapists, social workers, physicians, nurses)

Semi-structured interviews (grounded theory although not explicitly stated)

Bergeron et al. [24]

Canada

SARS-CoV

941 community nurses

Open-ended questionnaire (thematic analysis)

Broom et al. [22]

Australia

Ebola

21 (8 consultants and 13 nurses)

Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis)

Chen et al. [11]

China

COVID-19

13 medical staff

Interview surveys (not stated)

Chiang, et al. [38]

Taiwan

SARS-CoV

21 nurses

Focus groups (thematic analysis)

Chung, et al. [21]

Hong Kong

SARS-CoV

8 nurses

‘Focused but non-structured talking technique’ (Colaizzi’a (1978) phenomenological method)

Erland & Dahl [28]

Sierra Leone

Ebola

11 midwives

Semi-structured interviews (thematic cross-case analysis)

Fawaz & Samaha [29]

Lebanon

COVID-19

13 health care providers

Semi-structured interviews (thematic content analysis)

Gershon et al. [16]

West Africa

Ebola

16 health care volunteers

Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis)

Guimard et al. [41]

Democratic Republic of Congo

Ebola

27 nurses

Focus groups (not stated)

Hewlett & Hewlett [50]

Uganda and Republic of Congo

Ebola

Mixed healthcare workers

(Uganda - 6 individual nurses and 2 focus groups of nurses & healthcare workers) (Congo - 4 individual nurses and 2 focus groups of nurses & healthcare workers)

Open-ended and semi-structured interviews and focus groups (not stated)

Honey & Wang [51]

New Zealand

H1N1

5 ICU Nurses

Focus Group (‘Grounded Theory type approach’)

Im et al. [26]

South Korea

MERS-CoV

8 nurses

Interviews (not stated)

Ives et al. [35]

UK

General influenza pandemic

64 healthcare workers

Focus groups and interviews (thematic analysis although not explicitly stated)

Kim [30]

South Korea

MERS-CoV

12 nurses

In-depth interviews (Colaizzi’a (1978) phenomenological method)

Koh et al. [19]

Singapore

SARS-CoV/H1N1

10 nurses

Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis)

Lam & Hung [34]

Hong Kong

Swine Flu

10 nurses

Semi-structured interviews (content analysis)

Lamb [31]

West Africa

Ebola

14 mixed healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and support personnel (health care assistants, biomedical scientists, PPE monitors and drivers))

Semi-structured interviews (grounded theory)

Lau & Chen [52]

Hong Kong

SARS-CoV

1 (nurse manager)

Structured reflection (not stated)

Lee et al. [53]

Taiwan

SARS-CoV

26 nurses

Focus groups, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire (not stated)

Liu & Liehr [33]

China

SARS-CoV

6 nurses

Descriptive exploratory qualitative study (content analysis)

Liu et al. [54]

Chinese nurses working in Sierra Leone

Ebola

10 nurses

Semi-structured interviews (Colaizzi’s seven-step method)

Liu et al. [55]

China

COVID-19

15 nurses

Semi-structured interviews (not stated)

Locsin et al. [56]

Uganda

Ebola

15 nurses

Written narratives (van Manen’s (1990) hermeneutic phenomenological analysis)

McMahon et al. [57]

Sierra Leone

Ebola

Health Volunteers (13 focus group discussions – exact number of participants not stated)

Focus groups (adapted framework approach)

Mok et al. [39]

Hong Kong

SARS-CoV

10 nurses

Interviews (content analysis)

Moore et al. [23]

Canada

SARS-CoV

105 mixed healthcare workers (occupational health staff, infection control practitioners, physicians, clinical nursing staff, allied health professionals (e.g. respiratory therapists, laboratory technicians, physiotherapists), support staff, hospital managers)

Focus groups (not stated)

O’Boyle et al. [58]

USA

Public health emergencies

33 hospital nurses

Focus groups (not stated)

O’Sullivan et al. [59]

Canada

SARS-CoV

100 nurses

Focus groups (thematic analysis)

Pearce et al. [60]

Australia

General influenza pandemic

19 (9 nurses, 10 GPs)

Interviews & focus groups (not stated)

Raven et al. [20]

Sierra Leone

Ebola

25 frontline healthcare workers

In depth interviews, semi-structured interviews and observation (framework analysis)

Raven et al. [61]

Sierra Leone

Ebola

25 mixed healthcare workers

In-depth interviews (framework analysis)

Rubin et al. [25]

West Africa

Ebola

51 mixed healthcare workers (30 Public Health England staff, 21 non-governmental organization (NGO) staff)

Telephone interviews (thematic analysis although not explicitly stated)

Sarikaya & Erbaydar [62]

Turkey

Avian Flu

17 mixed healthcare workers (12 doctors, 3 allied health personnel, 1 midwife, 1 nurse).

Interviews (thematic analysis)

Shaw et al. [63]

Australia

General influenza pandemic

60 GPs

Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis although not explicitly stated)

Shih et al. [17]

Taiwan

SARS-CoV

200 Nurses

Semi structured interviews and open-ended questionnaire (thematic analysis)

Shih et al. [43]

Taiwan

SARS-CoV

70 nurse leaders

Focus group interviews (content analysis)

Smith et al. [32]

USA

Ebola

37 (any staff member who participated in the care of the EVD patients who were treated at the NBU during 2014.)

Semi-structured interviews (not stated)

Sun et al. [37]

China

COVID-19

20 nurses

Semi-structured interviews (Colaizzi’s 7-step method)

Taylor et al. [64]

USA

General influenza pandemic

46 local health department staff (aimed for half the focus groups to be with frontline local health department staff)

Focus groups (thematic analysis)

von Strauss et al. [44]

West Africa

Ebola

44 nurses

Open-ended questionnaire (not stated)

Wong et al. [65]

Hong Kong

H1N1

10 mixed healthcare workers

Semi-structured interviews (thematic analysis)

Yin & Zeng [18]

China

COVID-19

10 nurses

Semi structured interviews (category analysis)