Table 1Key Characteristics of the Included Studies.

Author / n / Gender, Martial status, & Age / Type of Injury / Time studied and data collection & Analysis / COREQ summary (/32)
Lohne 2004b / 10 / 6 male, 4 female.
Marital status not mentioned
Age: 22-76. / SCI- 2 vascular damage.
8 external injuries.
4- complete
6- incomplete
Between C5-L4. / Investigating the first few months of rehabilitation. Personal interviews lasting an average of 60 minutes. Phenomenological study – interview used open-ended questions. Analysis conducted was Hermeneutic approach. / 19/32
Lohne2005 / 10 / 6 male, 4 female.
Marital status not mentioned
Age: 22-76. / SCI- 2 vascular damage.
8 external injuries.
4- complete
6- incomplete
Between C5-L4. / Investigating the experiences one-year post operative. Original interview data as stated above.
Additional interview one year post SCI. Analysis as Lohne 2004a. / 19/32
Laskiwski
(1993) / 31 / 15 male, 3 female
10- married, 15 – single, 5 -divorced
Age: 17 - 67 (mean 33.8). / SCI- 18 quadriplegic, 13 paraplegic. / Investigating period on rehabilitation unit until discharge. Length of stay on unit 6-143 weeks (mean 24.5 weeks). Informal observation on the unit. Written field notes, Unstructured interviews. Ethnography- content analysis / 21/32
Smith (2005) / 14 / All Male
Marital status not mentioned
Age: 26-51 / Stroke. No details given / The life history. Approx 10-15 years post SCI. Three Interviews, over a period of a year. Lasting 2-5 hours. Structural analysis and content analysis. / 23/32
Dorsett (2010) / 46 / 42 male, 4 female
Martial status not given.
Age:, 16-72 years (mean 32 years). / Paraplegia = 19
Quadriplegia = 27
Complete = 16
Incomplete = 30 / 220 interviews examining a life history of individuals. Data collected at discharge from hospital (n=46), at 6 months (n=44), 12 months (n=40), 24 months (n = 35), 36 months (n=33), and 10 years (n = 32). Duration of interviews not given.
Participants were asked to related their story to how it had evolved since the last interview. Prompts used to facilitate process. NVIVO used for analysis of data. NOTE: data for paper only “a small subset of the qualitative data” / 13/32
Nunnerly (2013) / 9 / 7 male, 2 female
4 married, De-facto = 3
Single = 2
Age: 20-55 (mean 36). / Level: C4-C7 / Interviews undertaking using information from three areas: (1)leaving the spinal unit (2) being part of the wider community (3) employment. Interviews lasted between 40-120 minutes. Time post discharge for interview was on average 8 years (6.5-10 years). Analysis undertaken was IPA. / 22/32
Babhamadi (2011) / 18 / 8 male, 10 female
11 married, 1 divorced, 6 single
Age: 19-63 (mean 37.2 years) / Paraplegia = 15
Quadriplegia = 3 / 18 interviews undertaken between 2.5-26 years after event. Time of interviews lasted between 40-90 minutes. Interviews focused on experiences and coping strategies. / 21/32
Arneart (2006) / 8 / 4 male, 4 female
4 married, 1 widowed single, 1 divorced
Age: 19-90 / Stroke- 7 ischemic, 1 hemorrhagic. Stroke severity ranged from 3.0-11.5 on the Canadian Neurological Scale (CNS). / Studying acute care phase. 15 days post stroke, (mean 6.7 days) except for 1 who had been admitted for 50 days. Semi-Structured interviews. Lasting between 30-40 minutes.
Content analysed line by line, using the comparative method to comprise global themes. / 19/32
Bays (2001) / 9 / 3 male
6 female All participants Christian.
6 married, 3 widowed
Age: Mean 68.22 / Stroke- 6 right hemispheric strokes, 2 left hemispheric stroke. / Investigating experiences over a mean period of 29.89 months after the onset of stroke.
Open ended interviews. No time stated. Descriptive method / 20/32
Wiles (2002) / 13 / 8 male
5 female
Marital status no mentioned
Age: 41-79 (mean 66) / Stroke- No other information apart from they had to be referred to outpatient’s physiotherapy. / Investigating time from inpatient discharge to out-patient discharge. Last interview was 1 year post onset. 3 semi structured interviews, with both patients and physiotherapists separately. Grounded theory approach. / 21/32
Barker (2000) / 19 / 12 male
7 female
9 married,
Age 42- 82 / Stroke.
12 left sided weakness
7 right sided weakness / Experiences of rehabilitation ranged from 3 months to 13 years post stroke. Three focus groups and Two semi-structured interviews, with open-ended question. Grounded theory approach / 21/32
Tutton (2011) / 10 / 7 male, 3 female
No martial detail provided.
Age 37-72 years (median 63) / Details of participants not provided, except length of hospital stay was between 4-19 days (median 10) / Focus of interviews considered what had happened to them following the stroke, what experienced of hope were since having the stroke as well as prompts. Interviews lasted approximately 1 hour. Analysis details not given. / 19/32
Lutz (2011) / 19 / 11 male, 8 female
No martial detail provided.
Age: 33-84 years (mean 64) / Details not provided. / Interviews focused on the needs post-discharge and consider changes over time. Dimensional analysis was undertaken. Length of interviews not provided. / 19/32
Kouwenhoven (2011) / 9 / 3 male, 6 female
5 married, 3 widow, 1 divorced.
Age: 30-75 (mean 62.7) / L infarction: 3
R infarction: 5
R Haemorrhage: 1 / 3 Interviews taken place at 6,12, and 18 months. Focused on lived experience, life since stroke, impact of depressive symptoms, and future. Structural analysis undertaken. / 22/32
Hartigan (2011) / 10 / 5 female, 5 male
3 married/with spouse
7 single
Age: 70-83 (mean 77) / Details of stroke not given. / Interviews were focused on recovery, considering health before stroke and current health and consideration to goals for not and the future. Interviews lasted between 40-90 minutes. Interviews took place between 4-7 days post stroke. Grounded theory approach. / 18/32
Cross (2010) / 10 / 10 female.
4 married
2 nuns
4 widowed
Age: 71-100 (mean 79.8) / Detail not given. / Interviews undertaken between 1-13 years post stroke (mean 5). Interviews covered four main areas including: circumstances leading to the stroke, the recovery process, the perceived influence of hope on stroke recovery and present life and future hopes. Interviews lasted between 30-90minutes (mean 45). Thematic data driven analysis / 22/32
Bright (2013) / 5 / 2 female, 3 male
No martial detail provided.
Age: 41-62 (mean 50). / L infarction: 4
L Haemorrhage: 1 / Three interviews completed with each participant over a 3 week period. Interviews focused on the experiences, perceptions and process of hope. Grounded theory approach. / 21/32

Note: studies denoted by first author.