Table 1

Search strategy

Databases	Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature
	Allied and Complementary Medicine Database
	Embase
	PubMed
	Medline
	Scopus
	ProQuest
	African Journals Online
Other sources searched	Google Scholar, bibliographies of searched articles
Key searched terms	Traditional medicine OR traditional therapy OR African traditional medicine OR traditional healer OR traditional medicine practitioner OR traditional medicine healer OR traditional birth attendant OR bonesetter OR faith healer OR spiritualist OR Complementary therapies OR Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) OR Herbal medicine OR herbal therapy OR medicinal herbs OR herbal extract OR herbal product OR herbal supplements OR herbal remedies OR home remedies OR medicinal plants OR herbalist OR medical herbalist, folklore medicine OR folklore therapy OR indigenous therapy OR indigenous medicine OR indigenous health AND Africa OR sub-Saharan Africa, Western Africa(including all countries in that region) OR Central Africa(including all countries in that region) OR eastern Africa(including all countries in that region) OR Southern Africa(including all countries in that region) AND use OR prevalence OR Pattern OR utilization OR attitude OR knowledge OR practice OR perception OR health seeking behaviour OR Health care utilization AND Adverse Drug Event OR Adverse Drug Reaction OR Drug Side Effects OR Drug Toxicity AND Cost OR Expenditure OR Income
Search limit
Duration	1 January 2006 and 28 February 2017
Language	English
Population	Humans of all age groups
Location	Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Types of study	All studies that report empirical findings in all population groups for the treatment and prevention of health conditions, in SSA using traditional, complementary and alternative medicine products and/or practitioners.
Type of publication	Peer-reviewed research articles.
Exclusion criteria	Review articles including systematic reviews and meta-analysis, editorial, commentaries, letter to the editor, clinical case studies, studies conducted outside SSA, clinical studies using randomised control trial design, and articles that failed to use systematic research design and reporting procedures.