Background: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in Hispanic women in the USA. Current interventions to improve breast cancer care include the use of mHealth, but its application in Hispanic women is limited. This scoping review aimed to describe the extent of research literature on the use of mHealth throughout the breast cancer care continuum (prevention, early detection, and treatment) in Hispanic women.
Methods: A scoping review guided by the Arksey and O'Malley methodological framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review reporting protocol. Literature search of peer-reviewed research articles from 2012 to 2022 in PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL® was conducted in March and June 2022.
Results: Of the 10 articles selected, seven included Hispanic breast cancer survivors and three included Hispanic women at risk for developing breast cancer. Seven articles involved mobile applications and three articles used text messaging and/or cell phone voicemail. Overall, the use of mHealth for breast cancer care in Hispanics was favorable but generalizability was limited given the type of design and small samples. All interventions were tailored to Hispanic culture.
Conclusion: Scarcity of research on mHealth in Hispanic breast cancer care highlights healthcare disparities in this population. Evidence from this review suggests the use of mHealth to be beneficial to improving breast cancer care in Hispanics, but more research is needed involving randomized clinical trials and larger samples.
Keywords: Breast cancer; Hispanic; Latina; Mobile app; Mobile text messaging; mHealth.
© 2023. W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute.