Access to pap smear among black women compared to other racial/ethnic groups: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Abstract The aim is to identify the prevalence of Pap smear among black women in the scientific literature and compare it with other racial-ethnic groups. The protocol of this review is registered in the PROSPERO platform under number CRD42021251764. For eligibility, cross-sectional studies that analyzed the prevalence of Pap smear according to the race/ethnicity criteria were included. The extracted data were tabulated and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by means of meta-analysis (Review Manager). PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) was used as a writing guide. The review included 29 cross-sectional studies. The prevalence of Pap smear performance by black women ranged from 4.66% to 90.60%, and among white women, it ranged from 14% to 89.47%. The result of the meta-analysis showed that access to Pap smear is lower among black women when compared to white women. However, when compared to other ethnicities (except white), there was no significant difference. This study evidenced that black women have a lower chance of performing Pap smear when compared to white women.