Transferability

The review’s use of patient-reported qualitative data is a strength because it can reveal experiences missed by quantitative studies using predefined questions or interval measures. Findings may not fully generalise to low-income and middle-income countries or to different healthcare structures and cultures. Variation in sarcoma type, tumour location, age and sex allowed shared experiences to be identified but limited subtype-specific conclusions. Because the synthesis used published analyses instead of raw data, contextual detail and nuance may have been lost. Retrospective accounts may be affected by elapsed time and the context of data collection.