Table 2

Characteristics of studies included in the review

Study number	Study	Country	Method for data collection	Participants and sample size for interviews/FGDs	Research question and analysis	Setting/context of study—healthcare services and utilisation
Asian region
1	31	South India	In-depth interviews	Patients with DM n=16	Constraints faced by patients in managing care for diabetes, thematic analysis	Government health centres’ free care and private fee-for-service facilities. Urban area.
2	29	South India	Observations, semistructured interviews	Specialist and non-specialist doctors, pharmacists and laboratory technician n=19	Organisation of a local health system for chronic care, thematic analysis	Mixed health system-health centres, clinics and hospitals in an urban slum area
3	40	India	Semistructured interviews	Patients with a diagnosis of DM, HTN, TB n=7, FGDs with TB n=12, diabetes n=18 and HTN n=27	Patient experiences in diagnostic services, thematic analysis	Pluralistic healthcare services—public PHCs providing free OP care and many private providers
4	32	Bangladesh	In-depth interviews	Patients with a diagnosis of DM n=23	Patient experiences of care for DM, thematic analysis	Diabetes Association of Bangladesh (BADAS) provides specialist clinics and tertiary-level specialist hospitals.
5	59	Vietnam	In-depth interview and FGDs	Health staff, patients with NCDs and relevant stakeholders at 20 centres	Commune health stations capacity for NCDs, content analysis	A national strategy to have 90% of health facilities at the primary healthcare level with essential medical products and technology
6	26	Mongolia	In-depth interviews, FGD	Practice doctors and practice directors at PHCs treating HTN n=10	Factors influencing primary care providers’ role delineation in guideline implementation, thematic analysis	State-funded Family Health Centres provide universal access to healthcare for individuals, families and communities.
7	44	Mongolia	Semistructured interviews, FGDs	Nurses n=20, practice doctor n=10 and practice managers n=10	Implementation of guidelines at primary care, thematic analysis using theoretical domains framework	Family health centres’ private entities funded by the government. Services free of charge for citizens. Ministry publishes clinical guidelines for HTN and DM.
8	45	Cambodia	In-depth interviews	Patients with a diagnosis of DM and/or HTN n=28	Patient experiences in care for DM and HTN, grounded theory	Public chronic disease clinics at provincial and district hospitals. Also, private providers.
9	33	Malaysia	In-depth interviews	Patients with HTN n=25	Patient experiences of chronic care and self-management, thematic analysis	Chronic disease primary health centres run by the government
10	41	Malaysia	Document review and semistructured interviews	Patients with a diagnosis of HTN n=37 and health providers n=24	Barriers and facilitators for hypertension management, thematic analysis	Ministry of Health guidelines, staff training in screening and HTN management, traditional complementary medicine widespread
African region
11	28	Tunisia	Participant observation, semistructured interviews, FGD	Patients n=12 Paramedical staff n=4 Clinicians public sector n=10 Observations n=50 centres	Barriers and facilitators of care in the management of DM, content analysis	Ministry of Health—programme for management of HTN and DM in primary care. Public and private health sectors coexist.
12	34	Tunisia	Semistructured interviews	Patients with DM or HTN n=24	Patient experiences of chronic care, thematic analysis	Government-run primary health centres
13	60	South Africa	In-depth narrative interviews and survey	Women with self -reported DM/HTN n=12	Facilitators and inhibitors of healthcare utilisation for DM and HTN, thematic analysis	Healthcare system historically inequitable due to a racially fragmented public healthcare approach. Underutilisation of services.
14	35	South Africa	In-depth interviews	Patients with DM/HTN n=22	Patient experiences of chronic care and self-management, framework analysis using self-determination theory	National Department of Health patient-centred model of chronic care and free primary healthcare
15	42	South Africa	In-depth interviews	Patients with DM n=31 and healthcare providers n=23	Reasons for missed appointments at PHC, thematic analysis	Chronic Dispensing Unit at PHC>75% dependent on the public sector for medicines
16	30	South Africa	FGDs	Patients with DM and providers n=10–12	Barriers and facilitators of chronic care, thematic analysis	Primary care community health workers and traditional healers provide services.
17	36	Kenya	FGDs and in-depth interviews	Patients with DM or HTN n=179 and 4 FGDs n=242	Factors influencing linkage to HTN care, thematic analysis	Clinics of AMPATH and Kenya government, optimising referral and retention in care
18	46	South Africa	In-depth interviews	Women with DM n=27	Patient experiences with chronic care, thematic analysis	Public and private healthcare delivery with low utilisation of healthcare due to systemic inequalities
19	37	Zambia	In-depth interviews	Healthcare providers n=20 in 46 clinics	Assess care delivery at centres enrolled in an intervention study, thematic analysis	Better Health Outcomes through Mentoring and Assessment, 5-year trial of improved clinical service delivery in rural government clinics.
20	27	Nigeria	Semistructured interviews	Physicians, nurses, pharmacy staff, laboratory staff, administrative staff of health centres treating HTN n=39	Factors that inhibit or facilitate high-quality care, framework analysis using the tailored implementation for chronic disease framework	State Health Insurance clinics—a voluntary community-based health insurance programme supports quality improvement, provides new equipment, organisational support and staff training.
South American region
21	25	Mexico	In-depth interviews	PHC personnel including physicians, nurses and directors n=105	Patient experiences in HTN management and control, framework analysis	Casalud—comprehensive NCD care model based on the use of patient-centred technologies implemented through a public–private partnership
22	39	San José, Costa Rica, Mexico	FGDs	Patients with DM and/or HTN at urban public health centres n=70 in 12 FGDs	Patient perception of barriers and facilitators to self-management	Secretary of Health programme of healthcare for all, Costa Rica—a comprehensive healthcare system
23	38	Colombia	In-depth interviews, FGDs	Patients with HTN n=26, patients n=6 and family members n=4	Patient experiences in management and control of HTN, thematic analysis	The mandatory mixed contributory scheme covers salaries of retired and subsidised health insurance regime for the poor.
24	43	Brazil	In-depth interviews	Physicians, nurses, ANMs, community health agents and other staff at PHC n=38	Care provided by health professionals from a perspective of country policy, framework analysis	Brazilian Health Department uses the chronic care model as the main reference for the construction of the Modelo de Atenção às Condições Crônicas Healthcare Networks.

AMPATH, Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare Partnership; ANM, Auxillary Nirse Midwife; DM, diabetes mellitus type 2; FGD, focus group discussion; HTN, hypertension; NCDs, non-communicable diseases; OP, Out Patient; PHC, primary health centre; TB, Tuberculosis.