Prostate cancer in Nigeria: a scoping review and meta-analysis of current evidence on process indicators and interventions.

INTRODUCTION

Despite Nigeria's high prostate cancer burden, data remain fragmented due to systemic challenges. This scoping review aims to comprehensively synthesize existing evidence on epidemiological and clinical process indicators during prostate cancer detection and management, and to provide insights on the status of prostate cancer interventions in order to guide informed practice and support policy decisions.

METHODS

The Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were searched for journal articles published in English from 2020 to 2024. Studies were included if they captured thematic areas on process indicators and intervention mapping concepts. Covidence® and Mendeley software were used for data screening, a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet template for data charting and summarization, and Stata software for meta-analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 448 articles were screened, and 48 were included. The majority of the retrieved studies, 83.3 % (n = 40), had an observational study design. Studies on screening and diagnosis (11 studies, 22.9 %) dominated thematic area on the concepts of interest related to process indicators. Studies on intervention tools and markers (14 studies, 29.2 %) dominated thematic areas on the concepts of interest related to intervention mapping, and none of the studies reported implementation outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

This research has provided baseline values of multiple process indicators that can be used as reference points to evaluate progress during prostate cancer detection and management interventions. It has also highlighted a limited number of studies on intervention implementation, therefore, underscoring the critical need for system-level and translational health services research to support health systems strengthening.