School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Department of Human Anatomy, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
BMJ Open. 2024 Sep 5;14(9):e081256. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-081256.
Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, with breast cancer being one of the most commonly diagnosed types. Low-income and middle-income countries account for nearly half of all breast cancer cases and related fatalities. In Africa, mortality rates are higher and survival rates are lower compared with developed countries. Timeliness of care is a critical aspect of healthcare, but various studies and healthcare systems use different criteria and methods to measure it. Assessing the breast cancer care pathway and understanding the determinants of delayed care are essential for effective interventions. Therefore, this scoping review aims to evaluate the methods used to measure the timeliness of breast cancer care, identify specific points in the care pathway where delays are most frequently reported, and examine the factors affecting the timeliness of breast cancer care in Africa.
We will conduct this scoping review using the Arksey and O'Malley framework endorsed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. A scoping review of articles written in English concerning the timeliness of breast cancer care in the African context will be undertaken. Six electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, WEB Of SCIENCE and PsycINFO) will be searched to identify published literature on timeliness of breast care in Africa. Two reviewers will independently screen the articles at both the abstract and full-text stages, guided by predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The full texts of identified studies will be further examined and charted using a data extraction form guided by the Model of Pathways to Treatment framework. Publications describing the time to diagnosis and its associated factors in the contexts of breast cancer will be considered for inclusion, with no restrictions based on date of publication. Studies that are published in languages other than English and that do not focus on the timeliness of care or time-related aspects within the care pathway will be excluded. Evidence will be narratively synthesised and analysed.
Ethical approval is not needed as this scoping review does not involve collecting data from human participants. The results produced from this review will be submitted to a scientific peer-reviewed journal for publication and will be presented at scientific meetings.
癌症是全球主要死因，乳腺癌是最常见的诊断类型之一。中低收入国家占所有乳腺癌病例和相关死亡人数的近一半。在非洲，与发达国家相比，死亡率更高，生存率更低。医疗及时性是医疗保健的一个关键方面，但各种研究和医疗体系使用不同的标准和方法来衡量它。评估乳腺癌护理路径并了解护理延迟的决定因素对于有效的干预措施至关重要。因此，本范围综述旨在评估用于衡量乳腺癌护理及时性的方法，确定护理路径中最常报告延迟的特定点，并检查影响非洲乳腺癌护理及时性的因素。
我们将使用 Joanna Briggs 研究所认可的 Arksey 和 O'Malley 框架进行这项范围综述。将对在非洲背景下关于乳腺癌护理及时性的英文文章进行综述。将在六个电子数据库（MEDLINE、EMBASE、CINAHL、SCOPUS、WEB Of SCIENCE 和 PsycINFO）中搜索有关非洲乳腺癌护理及时性的已发表文献。两名审查员将根据预定的纳入和排除标准，在摘要和全文阶段独立筛选文章。将进一步检查并使用基于治疗途径模型的表格数据提取表来检查确定研究的全文。将考虑纳入描述诊断时间及其相关因素的出版物，不限制出版日期。将排除以其他语言出版且不关注护理及时性或护理路径内时间相关方面的研究。将进行叙述性综合和分析证据。
由于本范围综述不涉及从人类参与者收集数据，因此不需要伦理批准。从本次审查中产生的结果将提交给科学同行评审期刊发表，并将在科学会议上展示。
