Barriers to and Facilitators of Cervical Cancer Screening among Women in Southeast Asia: A Systematic Review

Brandon Chua, Viva Ma, Caitlin Asjes, Ashley Lim, Mahsa Mohseni and Hwee Lin Wee
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Brandon Chua: Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, 12 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117549, Singapore
Viva Ma: Health Economics and Outcomes Research Centre of Excellence (Greater Asia), Becton, Dickinson and Company, 2 International Business Park Road, Singapore 609930, Singapore
Caitlin Asjes: Government and Public Affairs, Becton, Dickinson and Company, 2 International Business Park Road, Singapore 609930, Singapore
Ashley Lim: Department of Pharmacy, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 229899, Singapore
Mahsa Mohseni: Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, 12 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117549, Singapore
Hwee Lin Wee: Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, 12 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117549, Singapore

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: In Southeast Asia, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women. Low coverage for cervical cancer screening (CCS) becomes a roadblock to disease detection and treatment. Existing reviews on CCS have limited insights into the barriers and facilitators for SEA. Hence, this study aims to identify key barriers and facilitators among women living in SEA. A systematic literature review was conducted on Pubmed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and SCOPUS. Primary qualitative and quantitative studies published in English that reported barriers and facilitators to CCS were included. The Mix Methods Appraisal Tool was used for the quality assessment of the included studies. Among the 93 included studies, pap smears (73.1%) were the most common screening modality. A majority of the studies were from Malaysia (35.5%). No studies were from Timor-Leste and the Philippines. The most common barriers were embarrassment (number of articles, n = 33), time constraints ( n = 27), and poor knowledge of screening ( n = 27). The most common facilitators were related to age ( n = 21), receiving advice from healthcare workers ( n = 17), and education status ( n = 11). Findings from this review may inform health policy makers in developing effective cervical cancer screening programs in SEA countries.

Keywords: cervical cancer screening; barriers; facilitators; southeast asia; pap smear; HPV test; visual inspection with acetic acid (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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