Mapping the evidence on interventions to raise awareness on lung cancer in resource poor settings: a scoping review protocol

Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer with 11.6% of the total cases attributable to lung cancer. It is currently the leading cause of death among cancer-related deaths worldwide. This is a major public health concern. Death due to lung cancer is preventable with interventions encouraging early presentation, diagnosis, smoking cessation and prompt and proper treatment. Literature shows that people are willing to screen for lung cancer if they understand the related risk, because of their behaviour, thus, highlighting the need for tailored interventions to address the associated risks. The aim of the review is to map the available literature on interventions raising community awareness about lung cancer (knowledge, attitudes and health-seeking behaviour) and effectiveness thereof among adults in resource-poor settings.

A methodological framework of Arksey and O’Malley will be used to guide this scoping review of published data. This process will start by searching several databases, including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycInfo, Web of Science, Google Scholar and the Educational Resources Information Centre (ERIC). A two-stage process will be done, where, firstly, two reviewers will independently screen the titles and abstracts for eligibility to be included in the final selection of studies. Secondly, a full-text screening of the articles from selected titles and abstracts will then be conducted. A tool developed through an iterative process by the researchers will be used to analyse all bibliographic data and study characteristics of selected studies.

The results will be used to inform policy and practice in terms of developing interventions on lung cancer awareness. The results of this scoping review will be disseminated through scientific publication, conferences and future workshops with health care professionals involved in lung cancer awareness campaigns.