Examples of scoping reviews

A scoping review is a type of literature review that aims to map the existing literature on a particular topic or research area. It identifies key concepts, theories, sources of evidence, and gaps in the research.

Medicine

This scoping review "Narrative Diaries in Pediatrics: A Scoping Review" by Sansone et al. (2021) investigates the use of health diaries with both clinical and narrative elements in pediatrics to study children's and families' experiences with illness and coping strategies. The objective is to synthesize the literature on narrative health diaries using the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews. Sources were selected based on criteria including English language, narrative diaries, and focus on children/adolescents and/or their parents/caregivers. Searches are conducted in PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL without date restrictions, resulting in 36 included articles. Most diaries are implemented at home (61%), in hospitals (17%), and schools (14%). Children or adolescents are the primary diarists in 50% of cases. The diaries are mostly paper (53%), with video (19%), e-diaries (8%), and audio diaries (8%) also used. None of the studies examine the impact on patient outcomes. Narrative health diaries are valuable for capturing the experiences of illness and daily life from children's perspectives. Their adaptability to different settings suggests broad applicability in pediatric care. However, more research is needed to assess their impact on health outcomes.