Cervical cancer screening uptake in Arab countries: a systematic review with meta-analysis

• Published in: BMC cancer 2024-11, Vol.24 (1), p.1438-14, Article 1438
• Main Authors: Ahmed, Hebatalla Abdelmaksoud Abdelmonsef, Abbas, Mohammed Hamdi, Hussein, Hussein Awad, Nasr, Rehab Salah Fathy, Lashen, Amira Ahmed, Khaled, Heba, Azzam, Ahmed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis; Arab countries; Arabs - psychology; Cancer; Cancer screening; Care and treatment; Cervical cancer; Cervical cancer uptake; Complications and side effects; Content analysis; Cross-sectional studies; Diagnosis; Early Detection of Cancer - psychology; Early Detection of Cancer - statistics & numerical data; Fear; Female; Females; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Mass Screening - psychology; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Medical personnel; Medical screening; Meta-analysis; Middle East; Oncology, Experimental; Papillomavirus infections; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Prevention; Risk factors; Sample size; Sensitivity analysis; Systematic review; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - diagnosis; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - epidemiology; Womens health
• ISSN: 1471-2407; 1471-2407
• DOI: 10.1186/s12885-024-13204-7

Cervical cancer, though one of the most common cancers affecting women globally, holds immense potential for prevention through screening. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to assess the rate of cervical cancer screening in Arab countries and identify barriers among those who did not participate. A comprehensive search was conducted from January 1st to June 1st,2024, including all observational studies that reported cervical cancer screening uptake in any Arab country. A meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model to estimate the pooled prevalence, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to test the robustness of the findings. The study followed PRISMA guidelines. This meta-analysis, covering 55 studies and 204,940 Arab women, found an overall cervical cancer screening uptake rate of 18.2% (95% CI: 13.9-23.6), with sensitivity analysis confirming the reliability of this estimate. Country disparities were evident, with Bahrain having the highest uptake at 44.1%, while Somalia had the lowest at 8.9%. Among women who underwent screening, the majority were ever-married (94.7%) and held positive attitudes towards screening (91.0%). Barriers to screening were common among women who did not participate, with the most frequent reasons being a lack of information (25.1%), the misconception of feeling healthy (24.5%), fear of the procedure (19.3%), and feelings of embarrassment (13.2%). Additionally, women who were screened had lower perceived barrier scores (SMD = -0.466) and higher perceived benefits scores (SMD = 0.379) than those who were not (p