The two medical librarians developed and performed searches in PubMed (1946 to present), EMBASE (Elsevier, 1947 to present), Web of Science (Core Collection, 1900 to present),
PsycINFO (EBSCO, 1887 to present), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, through August 2016). MeSH terms, EMTREE terms, keywords, and keyword phrases were used to search for the following concepts: dyadic; carers; heart failure; and intervention. Search terms were shared with the team to elicit feedback. Searches were limited to English language.
Appendix A shows the detailed search strategies.
The combined searches yielded 1217 papers as of September 29, 2016. All papers were exported into EndNote and 327 duplicates were removed mechanically. The remaining papers (890) were imported into an MS EXCEL worksheet for purposes of documenting the inclusion/exclusion analysis performed by the team.
Buck H.G., Stromberg A., Chung M.L., Donovan K.A., Harkness K., Howard A.M., Kato N., Polo R, & Evangelista L.S. (2017). A systematic review of heart failure dyadic self-care interventions focusing on intervention components, contexts, and outcomes. International journal of nursing studies, 77, 232-242.