Access to Health Care and Use of Health Care Services Among Males in Africa: Protocol for a Scoping Review
BackgroundThere is a scarcity of data on males’ health-seeking behavior, as well as their access to and use of health care services, in Africa. According to some studies, men are less likely than women to seek medical help for issues such as communicable and noncommunicable d...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JMIR Publications
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | JMIR Research Protocols |
| Online Access: | https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e52351 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832575598637088768 |
|---|---|
| author | Nkoleleng Johannah Mashilo Kelechi Elizabeth Oladimeji Siphamandla Gumede Samanta Tresha Lalla-Edward |
| author_facet | Nkoleleng Johannah Mashilo Kelechi Elizabeth Oladimeji Siphamandla Gumede Samanta Tresha Lalla-Edward |
| author_sort | Nkoleleng Johannah Mashilo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundThere is a scarcity of data on males’ health-seeking behavior, as well as their access to and use of health care services, in Africa. According to some studies, men are less likely than women to seek medical help for issues such as communicable and noncommunicable diseases, depression, substance abuse, physical disabilities, and stressful life events. The study of males’ health-seeking behaviors is important, because it allows us to learn about male health, how masculinity encourages underuse of health care services, how this affects males’ overall health and well-being, and how cultural values and backgrounds may impact older men’s health-seeking behaviors.
ObjectiveThe objective of this review is to assess evidence on how males access and use health care services and their health knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions to identify gaps for targeted, context-specific strategies to improve males’ health and outcomes, particularly in Africa.
MethodsThe scoping review process will be guided by the methodology frameworks of the Joanna Briggs Institute and Arksey and O’Malley and will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analysis Protocols Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. The following electronic databases will be systematically searched for evidence published between January 2010 and 2023: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar. Two reviewers will independently screen full texts and chart the data; a third reviewer will be engaged in the event of disagreement between the 2 independent reviewers. The results of this scoping review will be summarized quantitatively through numerical counts and qualitatively through a narrative synthesis.
ResultsThe electronic database search was conducted between March and April 2023 and redone in April 2024 to include the most recent articles. A total of 114,737 articles were retrieved and 4258 removed as duplicates. After title screening, 337 results remained, and after abstract selection, 140 results remained. As of December 2024, the scoping review was in the full-text screening phase. We plan to complete data extraction, synthesis, and writing of the entire manuscript of the review in January 2025, and then submit it to a journal for peer review and publication in February 2025.
ConclusionsThe scoping review results will advance the current knowledge about health-seeking behavior and access to and uptake of health care services among African males. To our knowledge, this scoping review is the first on this topic, and it will identify vital information on the barriers to and facilitators of African males’ health care access and uptake. It will also provide information on successful health care programs for males that may be tailored and adopted across different African contexts.
Trial RegistrationOSF Registries https://osf.io/xz6sr
International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/52351 |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8af32119d0e74a7795ad911bb5bdfda0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1929-0748 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Research Protocols |
| spelling | doaj-art-8af32119d0e74a7795ad911bb5bdfda02025-01-31T20:30:53ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Research Protocols1929-07482025-01-0114e5235110.2196/52351Access to Health Care and Use of Health Care Services Among Males in Africa: Protocol for a Scoping ReviewNkoleleng Johannah Mashilohttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-6706-2199Kelechi Elizabeth Oladimejihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0246-5595Siphamandla Gumedehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7870-1363Samanta Tresha Lalla-Edwardhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3597-1643 BackgroundThere is a scarcity of data on males’ health-seeking behavior, as well as their access to and use of health care services, in Africa. According to some studies, men are less likely than women to seek medical help for issues such as communicable and noncommunicable diseases, depression, substance abuse, physical disabilities, and stressful life events. The study of males’ health-seeking behaviors is important, because it allows us to learn about male health, how masculinity encourages underuse of health care services, how this affects males’ overall health and well-being, and how cultural values and backgrounds may impact older men’s health-seeking behaviors. ObjectiveThe objective of this review is to assess evidence on how males access and use health care services and their health knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions to identify gaps for targeted, context-specific strategies to improve males’ health and outcomes, particularly in Africa. MethodsThe scoping review process will be guided by the methodology frameworks of the Joanna Briggs Institute and Arksey and O’Malley and will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analysis Protocols Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. The following electronic databases will be systematically searched for evidence published between January 2010 and 2023: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar. Two reviewers will independently screen full texts and chart the data; a third reviewer will be engaged in the event of disagreement between the 2 independent reviewers. The results of this scoping review will be summarized quantitatively through numerical counts and qualitatively through a narrative synthesis. ResultsThe electronic database search was conducted between March and April 2023 and redone in April 2024 to include the most recent articles. A total of 114,737 articles were retrieved and 4258 removed as duplicates. After title screening, 337 results remained, and after abstract selection, 140 results remained. As of December 2024, the scoping review was in the full-text screening phase. We plan to complete data extraction, synthesis, and writing of the entire manuscript of the review in January 2025, and then submit it to a journal for peer review and publication in February 2025. ConclusionsThe scoping review results will advance the current knowledge about health-seeking behavior and access to and uptake of health care services among African males. To our knowledge, this scoping review is the first on this topic, and it will identify vital information on the barriers to and facilitators of African males’ health care access and uptake. It will also provide information on successful health care programs for males that may be tailored and adopted across different African contexts. Trial RegistrationOSF Registries https://osf.io/xz6sr International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/52351https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e52351 |
| spellingShingle | Nkoleleng Johannah Mashilo Kelechi Elizabeth Oladimeji Siphamandla Gumede Samanta Tresha Lalla-Edward Access to Health Care and Use of Health Care Services Among Males in Africa: Protocol for a Scoping Review JMIR Research Protocols |
| title | Access to Health Care and Use of Health Care Services Among Males in Africa: Protocol for a Scoping Review |
| title_full | Access to Health Care and Use of Health Care Services Among Males in Africa: Protocol for a Scoping Review |
| title_fullStr | Access to Health Care and Use of Health Care Services Among Males in Africa: Protocol for a Scoping Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Access to Health Care and Use of Health Care Services Among Males in Africa: Protocol for a Scoping Review |
| title_short | Access to Health Care and Use of Health Care Services Among Males in Africa: Protocol for a Scoping Review |
| title_sort | access to health care and use of health care services among males in africa protocol for a scoping review |
| url | https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e52351 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nkolelengjohannahmashilo accesstohealthcareanduseofhealthcareservicesamongmalesinafricaprotocolforascopingreview AT kelechielizabetholadimeji accesstohealthcareanduseofhealthcareservicesamongmalesinafricaprotocolforascopingreview AT siphamandlagumede accesstohealthcareanduseofhealthcareservicesamongmalesinafricaprotocolforascopingreview AT samantatreshalallaedward accesstohealthcareanduseofhealthcareservicesamongmalesinafricaprotocolforascopingreview |