Table 1 Search strings for systematic review and meta-analysis

1.

(((((((((Afghanistan* or Benin* or Burkina Faso* or Burundi* or Central African

Republic* or Chad* or Comoros* or Congo* or Eritrea* or Ethiopia* or Gambia*

or Guinea-Bissau* or Haiti* or Korea Republic* or Liberia* or Madagascar* or

Malawi* or Mali* or Mozambique* or Nepal* or Niger* or Rwanda* or Sierra

Leone* or Somalia* or South Sudan* or Syrian Arab Republic* or Tajikistan* or

Tanzania* or Togo* or Uganda* or Yemen* or Zimbabwe* or Angola* or

Bangladesh* or Bhutan* or Bolivia* or Cabo Verde* or Cambodia* or Cameroon*

or Congo* or Ivory Coast* or Djibouti* or Egypt* or El Salvador* or Georgia* or

Ghana* or Honduras* or India* or Indonesia* or Kenya* or Kiribati* or Kosovo* or

Kyrgyz Republic* or Lao PDP* or Lesotho* or Mauritania* or Micronesia* or

Moldova* or Mongolia* or Morocco* or Myanmar* or Nicaragua* or Nigeria* or

Pakistan* or Papua New Guinea* or Philippines* or Sao Tome) and Principe*) or

Solomon Islands* or Sri Lanka* or Sudan* or Swaziland* or Timor-Leste* or

Tunisia* or Ukraine* or Uzbekistan* or Vanuatu* or Vietnam* or West Bank) and

Gaza*) or Zambia* or Albania* or Algeria* or American Samoa* or Armenia* or

Azerbaijan* or Belarus* or Belize* or Bosnia) and Herzegovina*) or Botswana* or

Brazil* or Bulgaria* or China* or Colombia* or Costa Rica* or Cuba* or

Dominica* or Dominican Republic* or Equatorial Guinea* or Ecuador* or Fiji* or

Gabon* or Grenada* or Guatemala* or Guyana* or Iran* or Iraq* or Jamaica* or

Jordan* or Kazakhstan* or Lebanon* or Libya* or Macedonia* or Malaysia* or

Maldives* or Marshall Islands* or Mauritius* or Mexico* or Montenegro* or

Namibia* or Nauru* or Paraguay* or Peru* or Romania* or Russian Federation*

or Samoa* or Serbia* or South Africa* or Saint Lucia* or Saint Vincent) and the

Grenadines*) or Suriname* or Thailand* or Tonga* or Turkey* or Turkmenistan*

or Tuvalu* or Venezuela*).mp.

2.

((Developing or underdeveloped or under-developed or less-developed or least-developed) adj world).mp.

3.

(Asia* or Africa* or Caribbean* or central America* or south America* or

Melanesia* or Micronesia* or Polynesia*).mp.

4.

((developing or underdeveloped or under-developed or less-developed or least developed

or less-economically developed or less-affluent or least-affluent) adj

(country or countries or nation or nations or region or regions or economy or

economies)).mp.

5.

(Third-world* or third world* or 3rd-world*).mp.

6.

Developing countries/ or exp. africa/ or exp. Caribbean region/ or exp. central

America/ or latin America/ or exp. south america/ or asia/ or exp. asia, central/ or

exp. asia, southeastern/ or exp. asia, western/ or exp. indian ocean islands/ or

pacific islands/ or exp. melanesia/ or exp. micronesia/ or exp. west indies/

7.

or/1–6

8.

edema.mp. or Edema/

9.

oedema.mp.

10

Elephantiasis, Filarial/ or lymphoedema.mp. or Elephantiasis/

11.

exp Lymphedema/

12.

lymhoedema.mp.

13.

Breast Cancer Lymphedema/ or lymphedema.mp. or Non-Filarial Lymphedema/

14.

*lymphedema/

15.

*edema/

16.

exp Edema/

17.

8 or 9 or 10 or 11 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 15 or 16

18.

7 and 17

19

limit 18 to humans

20.

(((((((((‘Andorra’ or ‘Antigua) and Barbuda’) or ‘Argentina’ or ‘Aruba’ or ‘Australia’ or

‘Austria’ or ‘Bahamas’ or ‘Bahrain’ or ‘Barbados’ or ‘Belgium’ or ‘Bermuda’ or

‘British virgin islands’ or ‘Brunei Darussalam’ or ‘Canada’ or ‘Cayman Islands’ or

‘Channel Islands’ or ‘Chile’ or ‘Croatia’ or ‘Curacao’ or ‘Cyprus’ or ‘Czech Republic’ or

‘Denmark’ or ‘Estonia’ or ‘Faroe Islands’ or ‘Finland’ or ‘France’ or ‘French Polynesia’

or ‘Germany’ or ‘Gibraltar’ or ‘Greece’ or ‘Greenland’ or ‘Guam’ or ‘Hong Kong Sar’ or

‘China’ or ‘Hungary’ or ‘Iceland’ or ‘Ireland’ or ‘Isle of Man’ or ‘Israel’ or ‘Italy’ or

‘Japan’ or ‘Korea’ or ‘Kuwait’ or ‘Latvia’ or ‘Liechtenstein’ or ‘Lithuania’ or

‘Luxembourg’ or ‘Macao Sar’ or ‘Malta’ or ‘Monaco’ or ‘Netherlands’ or ‘New

Caledonia’ or ‘New Zealand’ or ‘Northern Mariana Islands’ or ‘Norway’ or ‘Oman’ or

‘Palau’ or ‘Panama’ or ‘Poland’ or ‘Portugal’ or ‘Puerto Rico’ or ‘Qatar’ or ‘San

Marino’ or ‘Saudi Arabia’ or ‘Seychelles’ or ‘Singapore’ or ‘Sint Maarten’ or ‘Slovak

Republic’ or ‘Slovenia’ or ‘Spain’ or ‘Saint Kitts) and Nevis’) or ‘Saint Martin’ or

‘Sweden’ or ‘Switzerland’ or ‘Taiwan’ or ‘Trinidad) and Tobago’) or ‘Turks) and Caicos

Islands’) or ‘United Arab Emirates’ or ‘United Kingdom’ or ‘United States’ or

‘Uruguay’ or ‘Virgin Islands’).mp.

21.

19 not 20