Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening Among Immigrant Populations in Canada

The objective of this study is to summarize the current knowledge about barriers to breast cancer screening among immigrant and ethnic women and to determine future research opportunities in this area. A scoping review of the literature was conducted following a five-stage framework. Electronic databases of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature were searched based on comprehensive sets of key words, without restricting the time period or language. Barriers were classified into six themes: socioeconomic, cultural, communication, healthcare-system-related, knowledge-related, and personal barriers. Lack of education, lack of physicians’ recommendation, a preference for female physicians, the inability to speak one of the official languages, and embarrassment were some of the common barriers identified. The reported barriers can be used as a source of information for policymakers, healthcare providers, and researchers to decide the future direction of research in this field.