Aliza K C Bhandari

Prevalence of Cervical Cancer Screening in Asia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Cervical cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related mortality among female, especially in the low-and-middle income countries. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identifying the prevalence and trend of cervical cancer screening among 21member countries of the Asian National Cancer Centres Alliance (ANCCA)/ regions in Asia. We conducted a search on three databases including: PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, using our search terms. Two independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and any conflicts were resolved through discussion. Full-text screening was also completed by two independent reviewers, and conflicts were resolved accordingly. Relevant information was extracted into an Excel sheet, and random-effects meta-analysis was performed to identify the pooled estimate of cervical cancer screening in Asia using Stata 17. The review has been registered in PROSPERO (registration ID: CRD42023401516). We identified 54 studies from 19 ANCCA member countries/ regions in Asia reporting cervical cancer screening rates between 2012-2023. The pooled estimate of eight countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Nepal, and Thailand) that had more than three data points and were rated as satisfactory to very good in the quality assessment showed that cervical cancer screening rate was around 28% (95% CI: 0.25 - 0.32) in the last ten years. Most of countries/regions in Asia do not have sufficient data on cervical cancer screening due to lack of nationally representative surveys or national level cancer registries. Hence, it is crucial to encourage governments and private sector to strengthen their capacities and work in collaboration to enhance the cervical cancer screening rate in their respective countries.