After initial screening for obviously ineligible papers (e.g letters,
abstracts, editorials, pharmaceutical trials, basic science, surveys,
observational studies, reviews, discussion pieces etc) a sub-group of
abstracts of potentially eligible studies were scrutinised in detail
and independently reviewed by two researchers (UN, and SB or
MK). Our eligibility criteria defined holistic care as comprising at
least three of the four components (physical, psychological, social
and spiritual), but in order to ensure that we did not overlook
potentially eligible trials because of limited reporting in the
abstract, we only required abstracts to mention two of the
components. The full texts of all potentially eligible studies were
assessed for eligibility against the inclusion criteria by two
reviewers (UN, and SB or MK). Any disagreements were resolved
through discussion, with HP arbitrating if agreement