Interventions to increase mammography screening uptake among women living in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To systematically identify interventions that increase the use of mammography screening in women living in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Design: Systematic review.

Data sources: MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Google Scholar and African regional databases.

Eligibility criteria: Studies conducted in LMICs, published between 1 January 1990 and 30 June 2021, in the English language. Studies whose population included asymptomatic women eligible for mammography screening. Studies with a reported outcome of using mammography by either self-report or medical records. No restrictions were set on the study design.

Data extraction and synthesis: Screening, data extraction and risk-of-bias assessment were conducted by two independent reviewers. A narrative synthesis of the included studies was conducted.

Results: Five studies met the inclusion criteria consisting of two randomised controlled trials, one quasi-experiment and two cross-sectional studies. All included studies employed client-oriented intervention strategies including one-on-one education, group education, mass and small media, reducing client out-of-pocket costs, reducing structural barriers, client reminders and engagement of community health workers (CHWs). Most studies used multicomponent interventions, resulting in increases in the rate of use of mammography than those that employed a single strategy.

Conclusion: Mass and small media, group education, reduction of economic and structural barriers, client reminders and engagement of CHWs can increase use of mammography among women in LMICs. Promoting the adoption of these interventions should be considered, especially the multicomponent interventions, which were significantly effective relative to a single strategy in increasing use of mammography.

Prospero registration number: CRD42021269556.

Keywords: breast tumours; oncology; public health.