Barriers to breast and cervical cancer screening uptake among Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic women in the United Kingdom: evidence from a mixed-methods systematic review

Abstract

Background: Cancer is currently the leading cause of mortality globally, with new cancer cases estimated at 19.3 million and almost 10 million deaths in 2020. Specifically, breast and cervical cancer incidence and mortality prevalence among women of the minority group or marginalised populations in Europe have continued to be a public health concern due to the low uptake of cancer screening. Thus, this study utilised a mixed-method systematic review to identify barriers to breast and cervical screening uptake among Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic women in the United Kingdom.

Methods: Databases including PubMed, CINAHL, British Nursing Index, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Scopus databases, were systematically searched for studies on barriers to breast and cervical screening uptake among Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic women in the United Kingdom published in English between January 2010 to July 2022. This mixed-method systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines in reporting the included studies' results. The cluster mapping approach was used to identify and classify the barriers into themes.

Results: Thirteen eligible studies were included in this current review. Seven of the thirteen studies used quantitative cross-sectional research design, while six used qualitative cross-sectional research design. These studies were conducted across the United Kingdom. Five themes were developed from the cluster mapping, and thirty-four sub-theme barriers to the uptake of breast and cervical cancer screening among Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic women in the United Kingdom were identified. The developed themes in relation to the barriers include; socio-demographic characteristics, health service delivery, cultural, religious & language, the gap in knowledge & awareness, and emotional, sexual & family support.

Conclusion: The study concluded that barriers in socio-demographic characteristics, health service delivery, cultural, religious and language, the gap in knowledge & awareness, and emotional, sexual & family support were identified as non-uptake of breast and cervical cancer screening among Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic women in the United Kingdom. Reducing or eliminating these barriers would improve the benefits of timely breast and cervical cancer screening in the United Kingdom.

Keywords: Black Asian and Minority Ethnic women; Breast cancer; Cervical cancer; Screening uptake; United Kingdom.