Interventions to improve screening for breast cancer among Muslim women who are refugees or immigrants
Citation: Racine L, D’Souza MS, Tinampay C. Effectiveness of breast cancer screening interventions in improving screening rates and preventive activities in Muslim refugee and immigrant women: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 2023;55(1):329-44.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: No.
Funding sources: Nothing noted.
What is this? Muslim women experience a higher rate of breast cancer and lower participation in breast cancer screening programmes than non-Muslim women.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for peer-reviewed articles that assessed the effectiveness of interventions to improve breast self-examination, clinical breast examination, and mammogram screening among Muslim women who were refugees or immigrants. They restricted their searches to articles published in English from January 2015 to March 2022. The authors included 14 articles from Israel (3), Jordan (1), Turkey (2), and the USA (8).
What works: Cultural- and faith-based interventions influenced Muslim women’s attitudes and beliefs about breast cancer. Community-led education, access, cultural- and faith-based interventions improved participation in breast cancer screening by Muslin refugees and immigrants.
What doesn’t work: Interventions that did not reflect religious, social, cultural, and accessibility barriers were less effective in this population, as were stand-alone interventions for education or access.
What’s uncertain: The transferability of these findings to Muslim women refugee and immigrant populations in other settings is uncertain, as is the impact of migration status and acculturation on participation in breast screening.
Implications: The authors of the review recommended that future interventions for breast cancer screening focus on cultural and religious barriers while increasing knowledge of breast cancer and enabling access. A multidisciplinary and collaborative approach was needed among health professionals, researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders to improve breast cancer screening among Muslim women who were refugees or immigrants.
Other considerations: The authors discussed their findings in the context of sex and religion.
This summary was prepared by Joly Ghanawi, checked by Grace Meng, and finalized by William Summerskill.