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Mapping evidence on the distribution of paediatric cancers in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Paediatric cancers account for a minor fraction of deaths and hence receive little attention from policymakers. In low-income countries, the absence of comprehensive national paediatric strategies results in a lack of access for a majority of children with cancer. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the burden of childhood cancers is underestimated due to a lack of paediatric cancer registries, poor health care systems and competing healthcare needs. The objective of this study is to map evidence on the distribution of paediatric cancers in the SSA region. METHOD:A scoping review will be conducted to map literature on the distribution of paediatric cancers in SSA. An electronic literature search will be conducted from the following databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCOhost (CINAHL and Health Source) and World Health Organization (WHO)/International Agency for Research in Cancer (IARC) (GLOBOCAN databases). We will also search the reference lists of included studies to source relevant literature. A pilot search was conducted to determine the feasibility of the study. Study selection will be guided by the inclusion and exclusion criteria. After charting the data, a descriptive overview of the studies will be presented in a narrative format. An account of the study characteristics will be described in this narrative. The analysis will be mainly based on mapping the country-specific outcomes emerging from the studies, and a numerical summary of these outcomes will be conducted. Tables, maps and charts will be produced and presented in the result section. DISCUSSION:This review study will identify existing research gaps for future research to influence policy implementation and to improve the availability of diagnosis and treatment of paediatric cancers in SSA.

SUBMITTER: Ndlovu SR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6836462 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mapping evidence on the distribution of paediatric cancers in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol.

Ndlovu Sehlisiwe R SR Kuupiel Desmond D Ginindza Themba G TG

Systematic reviews 20191107 1

<h4>Background</h4>Paediatric cancers account for a minor fraction of deaths and hence receive little attention from policymakers. In low-income countries, the absence of comprehensive national paediatric strategies results in a lack of access for a majority of children with cancer. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the burden of childhood cancers is underestimated due to a lack of paediatric cancer registries, poor health care systems and competing healthcare needs. The objective of this study is to ...[more]

PMID: 31699138

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Obesity in childhood is associated with adverse health outcomes and complications throughout the life-span of a child. Available evidence suggests a dramatic increase in childhood obesity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the past two decades. The health risks associated with obesity/overweight are particularly problematic in children due to the potential for long-term health concerns. The researchers propose to conduct a systematic scoping review to map evidence on the burden and distribution of childhood obesity in SSA. METHODS:The study will be guided by the scoping review framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. A comprehensive literature search will be performed in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, African Index Medicus, and CINAHL with full text via EBSCOhost platform. Primary studies both published in peer-reviewed journals and gray literature such as unpublished studies, thesis, and studies in press addressing the research topic will be included. One reviewer will conduct title screening, and the results will be exported to Mendeley Desktop library. Two independent reviewers will perform both abstract and full article screening in parallel as well as data extraction from eligible studies. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis: Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) will be utilized to present the study findings of the proposed scoping review. NVivo version 11.0 will be used to extract the relevant outcomes from the included studies, a content thematic analysis performed, and the results reported using a narrative approach. The Mixed Method Quality Appraisal Tool Version 2018 will be used to assess the methodological quality of all included studies. DISCUSSION:We anticipate that the proposed study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge on childhood obesity, identify gaps in knowledge on the topic, inform future research direction, and provide evidence-based information to strengthen health systems and policies on childhood obesity towards achieving the WHO global target of halting the rise in obesity by 2025.

Project description:Background Cancer remains a major public health problem, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where the provision of health care is poor. This scoping review mapped evidence in the literature regarding the burden of cervical, breast and prostate cancers in SSA. Methods We conducted this scoping review using the Arksey and O'Malley framework, with five steps: identifying the research question; searching for relevant studies; selecting studies; charting the data; and collating, summarizing, and reporting the data. We performed all the steps independently and resolved disagreements through discussion. We used Endnote software to manage references and the Rayyan software to screen studies. Results We found 138 studies that met our inclusion criteria from 2,751 studies identified through the electronic databases. The majority were retrospective studies of mostly registries and patient files (n = 77, 55.8%), followed by cross-sectional studies (n = 51, 36.9%). We included studies published from 1990 to 2021, with a sharp increase from 2010 to 2021. The quality of studies was overall satisfactory. Most studies were done in South Africa (n = 20) and Nigeria (n = 17). The majority were on cervical cancer (n = 93, 67.4%), followed by breast cancer (67, 48.6%) and the least were on prostate cancer (48, 34.8%). Concerning the burden of cancer, most reported prevalence and incidence. We also found a few studies investigating mortality, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and years of life lost (YLL). Conclusions We found many retrospective record review cross-sectional studies, mainly in South Africa and Nigeria, reporting the prevalence and incidence of cervical, breast and prostate cancer in SSA. There were a few systematic and scoping reviews. There is a scarcity of cervical, breast and prostate cancer burden studies in several SSA countries. The findings in this study can inform policy on improving the public health systems and therefore reduce cancer incidence and mortality in SSA.

Project description:Background: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) homes most of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. Adolescents/young people are a vulnerable population and at high risk of HIV infection. Identifying and bridging the research gaps on the disclosure of HIV-positive status among adolescents, particularly to their sexual partners, is essential to inform appropriate policy planning and implementation towards preventing HIV transmission. This study will aim to explore literature and describe the evidence on HIV-positive status disclosure among adolescents in SSA.Methods: The framework provided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework and improved by Levac and colleagues will be used to conduct a scoping review. A keyword search for relevant literature presenting evidence on HIV-positive status disclosure among adolescents in SSA will be conducted in CINAHL, PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and SCOPUS. Date limitations will be removed, but Boolean terms "AND" and "OR" as well as Medical Subject Headings terms will be included where possible and syntax modified to suit the database during the search. Additional relevant articles will be sought from the reference lists of all included studies using a snowballing method. Two reviewers will independently screen the articles at the abstract and full-text screening phases in order to reduce bias and improve the reliability of this study's findings. A tabular form will be developed using Microsoft Word and piloted for data extraction. Thematic content analysis will be conducted, and a narrative summary of all relevant outcomes reported. Quality appraisal of the included studies for this proposed study will be performed utilizing the recent mixed methods appraisal tool.Discussion: The evidence produced by this review may help inform policy and strategies to reduce the incidence of HIV infection among adolescents and improve social support for adolescents living with HIV/AIDS in SSA. It may also reveal literature gaps to guide future researches to further inform HIV policies for adolescents in SSA. Platforms such as peer review journals, policy briefs, and conferences will be used to disseminate this study's findings.

Project description:BACKGROUND:In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), malnutrition remains a major public health challenge, particularly among children under 5 years of age. Despite nutritional screening tools being developed and available to detect early malnutrition in under five-year-old children, malnutrition continues to be a health concern. However, the level of evidence on nutritional screening tools for predicting early malnutrition at the community level in a high disease burden setting is unclear. The objective of this scoping review is to systematically map the evidence on malnutrition screening tools for children under 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and to identify knowledge gaps. METHODS:The proposed study will be guided by an improved Arksey and O'Malley's framework, Levac et al. 2010 recommendations, and the 2015 Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. We will conduct a systematic search of relevant imperial sources of evidence from the following databases: CINAHL with full text, Academic search complete via EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and PubMed. We will search for grey literature from the following humanitarian and aid organization websites: World Health Organization (WHO), The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and governmental departments. Following the database searches and title screening, eligible sources of evidence will be exported to an EndNote X9 reference library. Thereafter, duplicate articles will be removed in preparation for abstract and full article screenings. Data from the included sources of evidence will be extracted, and the emerging themes will be analyzed. The relationship between the emerging themes and the research questions will be critically examined. The quality of the included sources of evidence will be determined by using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018. The search results will be presented in adapted Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis: Extension for Scoping Reviews chart (PRISMA-ScR). DISCUSSION:We anticipate finding relevant literature on malnutrition screening tools for children under 5 years in SSA. This study is likely to reveal research gaps, which could guide future research on malnutrition screening tools.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:Previous studies have attempted to review the vast body of evidence on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH), but none has focused on a complete mapping and synthesis of the body of inquiry and evidence on ASRH in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Such a comprehensive scoping is needed, however, to offer direction to policy, programming and future research. We aim to undertake a scoping review of studies on ASRH in SSA to capture the landscape of extant research and findings and identify gaps for future research. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:This protocol is designed using the framework for scoping reviews developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. We will include English and French language peer-reviewed publications and grey literature on ASRH (aged 10-19) in SSA published between January 2010 and June 2019. A three-step search strategy involving an initial search of three databases to refine the keywords, a full search of all databases and screening of references of previous review studies for relevant articles missing from our full search will be employed. We will search AJOL, JSTOR, HINARI, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar and the websites for the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNESCO and Guttmacher Institute. Two reviewers will screen the titles, abstracts and full texts of publications for eligibility and inclusion-using Covidence (an online software). We will then extract relevant information from studies that meet the inclusion criteria using a tailored extraction frame and template. Extracted data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Results will be presented using tables and charts and summaries of key themes arising from available research findings. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:Ethical approval is not required for a scoping review as it synthesises publicly available publications. Dissemination will be through publication in a peer-review journal and presentation at relevant conferences and convening of policymakers and civil society organisations working on ASRH in SSA.

Project description:BackgroundDespite the well-documented information on cancer prevention and management, among noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), globally, cancer continues to be the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality with devastating economic consequences. The burden is disproportionately more among developing countries and the extent of evidence available on the economic consequences (direct and indirect costs) of cancer remains unknown in low-income countries particularly in the sub-Saharan region. Understanding the costs of illness is important to inform decision-making on setting up health care policies and informing economic evaluation of interventions. This study aims to map evidence on the distribution of the economic burden (direct and indirect costs) associated with prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of three predominant cancers: prostate, cervix, and female breast in the sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsThis scoping review will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), and will be conducted following Arksey and O'Malley's framework. We will search PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, CINHAL (via EBSCOhost platform), Science Direct, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Africa-Wide Information, Google Scholar, and WHO Library. We will perform hand-searching of the reference lists of included studies and other relevant documents. Two reviewers will independently screen all citations, full-text articles, and abstract data. We will include primary studies from all study designs reporting costs associated with prevention, diagnosis and treatment of prostate, cervical, and breast cancers in the sub-Saharan region. Data analysis will involve quantitative (e.g., frequencies) and qualitative (e.g., thematic analysis) methods. A narrative summary of findings will be presented.DiscussionThis review will map the extent of information available on the economic burden (direct and indirect costs) of prostate, cervical, and breast cancers in the sub-Saharan region. Further guidance for future research in the subject area will be discussed.Systematic review registrationOpen Science Framework.

Project description:BackgroundAlthough measures have been put in place, musculoskeletal injuries are noticeable high among the nursing fraternity with low back pain (LBP) being the most prevalent. It is evident that healthcare professionals are in constant exposure to occupational hazards such as musculoskeletal injuries as they discharge their professional duties. Not only does LBP affect the health of the nurses, it also creates a huge burden on the health systems with consequent poor performance at the workplace as well as economic burden. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to map evidence on the prevalence, incidence, mortality, risk factors, and economic costs of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This is a scoping review because we want to map the evidence of MSD among nurses in SSA and to identify the scope of body literature in which the findings will be used for planning the intervention study thereafter.Methods and analysisScoping review will be done to explore, describe, and map literature on the prevalence, incidence, mortality, risk factors, and economic costs related to MSD among nurses in SSA. The search will be done using databases such as PubMed, EBSCOHOST, Scopus, Web of Science, Science direct, Sabinet, WorldCat Local (iCatalogue), MEDLINE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, nursing academic editions, and World Health Organization (WHO) library databases. The search will look for primary studies within peer-reviewed articles as well as gray literature. In addition, the researcher will search for articles using keywords from the included studies as well as the list of references for related studies. The screening will be guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework which has five steps to be followed: (I) identifying the research question, (II) identifying relevant studies, (III) study selection, (IV) charting the data, and (V) collating, summarizing, and reporting the results, and the scoping review will be reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. A thematic content analysis will be used to give the narrative account of the review; using NVivo version 11 software, two independent reviewers will follow the three stages outlined by the thematic synthesis theory: (a) coding the findings of the included studies line-by-line, (b) organizing these free codes into related areas to construct descriptive themes, and (c) developing analytical themes. The outcome of coding will be verified and discussed with a third reviewer. The process of cross-checking the outcomes of coding of each included article will be discussed thoroughly.DiscussionAt the end, this study anticipates to uncover the relevant literature in SSA in regard to the prevalence, incidence, mortality, risk factors, and economic costs related to MSD among nurses; furthermore, findings from this study will help in identifying research gaps; informing policy, priority in funding, and planning; and guiding future research.

Dataset Information

Mapping evidence on the distribution of paediatric cancers in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol.

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Mapping evidence on the distribution of paediatric cancers in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol.

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