Coverage of themes and subthemes by studies
| Brown27 | Cumberlege16 | Dibb et al 30 | Dunn et al 33 | Huntington et al 35 | Izett-Kay et al 31 | McKinlay and Oxlad36 | Toye et al 32 | Uberoi et al 34 | |
| Broken body, broken mind | |||||||||
| ‘My life is never going to be the same’ | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | y |
| ‘I can’t achieve very much’ | y | y | y | y | y | y (+) | y | y | y |
| ‘It has left me feeling lost, extremely anxious’ | – | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | y |
| ‘You can’t have that (sexual) relationship with someone screaming in pain’ | y | y | y | y | y | – | y | y | Y |
| Linked to both broken body and distrust of doctors | |||||||||
| ‘I am frightened if I take it out; I am frightened if I don’t’ | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | Y |
| Distrust of doctors and medical industry | |||||||||
| ‘She suggested that it was such an easy fix’ | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | Y |
| ‘You're the only person I've seen who is complaining and thinking you have problems’ | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | Y |
| ‘I trusted fully all I was told’ | y | y | y | y | y | – | – | y | Y |
| ‘All that I ask is honesty’ | y | y (+) | – | y | y | y (+) | – | y (+) | y (+) |
| ‘I have beaten cancer, but mesh (has) beaten me’ | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | y | Y |
| Broken life | |||||||||
| ‘My children needed their mother back’ | y | y | y | – | y | – | y | y | Y |
| ‘People get bored with it, and they’re not interested, and you sort of get dropped’ | y | – | y | y | y | – | y | y | Y |
| - ‘I am unable to work … I miss being able to contribute’ | y | y | – | y | y | – | y | y | – |
| Keeping going—‘a changed future’ | – | y | y | y | y | y | – | y | y (+) |
+ =+ = positive aspects, for example, positive interactions with medical professionals.