A Systematic Review Protocol: Barriers and Facilitators of Breast Cancer Screening Among Women in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Abstract Introduction: According to statistics released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in December 2020, female breast cancer (BC) has overtaken lung cancer as the world's most commonly diagnosed cancer. It is estimated that by 2050 the prevalence rate of breast cancer in SSA will double. Breast cancer screening aims to reduce mortalities related to cancer, and morbidity associated with advanced stages of the disease, through early detection in asymptomatic women. This study aims to review and analyze empirical and grey literature on barriers and facilitators to breast cancer screening among women in SSA.Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) including Google scholar will be searched to identify published studies on barriers and facilitators to breast cancer screening from January 2010 to 2021. Two reviewers independently assessed the quality of all the included studies using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018.Conclusion: We envisage that this review will adduce evidence on common barriers and facilitators to BC screening in SSA. Identifying these barriers and facilitators will help guide the initialization of effective interventions that will improve BC screening uptake among women in SSA. This review will also guide future research in developing, implementing, and evaluating appropriate interventions tailored towards increasing BC screening uptake.Systematic review registration: Open Science Framework (OSF) registration DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/KY3PF