The role of traditional healers along the cancer care continuum in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

IF 3.2 3区医学 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH Archives of Public Health Pub Date : 2025-02-13 DOI:10.1186/s13690-025-01521-7

Elizabeth F Msoka, Sindhu Dwarampudi, Rebecca Billings, Rebecca J Stone, Rhodes E Mwageni, Autumn Beavers, Blandina T Mmbaga, Lily Gutnik

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Abstract

Background: Traditional healers play a significant role in Sub-Saharan Africa's healthcare system, but little is known about their role across the cancer care continuum in this context. Given the prevalence of patients consulting healers, we aimed to elucidate their role and impact on cancer care delivery in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Following the PRISMA reporting standards, all research focused on the role of traditional healers in the cancer care continuum in sub-Saharan Africa was included in this scoping review. Data sources assessed include PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Scopus, Sociological Abstracts, African Journals Online, African Index Medicus, and Google Scholar. Studies that lacked perspectives on the healers' role, focused solely on the actual herbal medicines, were written in non-English language, were not primary research, or the full-text was unavailable were excluded. Two reviewers performed screening and data extraction for each article, confirmed by a third reviewer.

Results: One thousand four hundred seventy-one studies were identified, with 1437 screened and 191 full-texts reviewed. Of those, 158 were excluded, and 33 (comprising of 1564 healers) were included for final data extraction and analysis. Five studies (64 healers) showed their role in prevention, eleven (454 healers) in diagnosis, twenty-seven (1524 healers) in treatment, and two (25 healers) in palliative care in Sub-Saharan Africa. While some desired increased collaboration with the biomedical system and referred patients, others lacked trust and remained hesitant to provide referrals.

Conclusion: Results showed that traditional healers play an important role in cancer treatment. This provides an opportunity to leverage the skills of traditional healers to improve cancer outcomes, in a way that recognizes and respects local culture. Future research focused on improving the collaboration between traditional healers and the biomedical healthcare system may lead to strengthening the referral system and early detection and treatment of cancer.

Registration: This study was registered on PROSPERO, CRD42022293055.

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撒哈拉以南非洲地区传统治疗师在癌症治疗连续体中的作用：范围审查。

背景：传统治疗师在撒哈拉以南非洲的医疗保健系统中发挥着重要作用，但在这种情况下，他们在癌症治疗连续体中的作用知之甚少。鉴于患者咨询治疗师的流行程度，我们旨在阐明他们在撒哈拉以南非洲癌症护理服务中的作用和影响。方法：遵循PRISMA报告标准，所有关注撒哈拉以南非洲地区传统治疗师在癌症治疗连续体中的作用的研究都被纳入本范围综述。评估的数据来源包括PubMed、Cochrane Library、Embase和CINAHL Plus全文、Scopus、社会学摘要、African Journals Online、African Index Medicus和谷歌Scholar。那些对治疗师的作用缺乏观点、仅仅关注于实际的草药、用非英语写作、不是主要研究或无法获得全文的研究被排除在外。两名审稿人对每篇文章进行筛选和数据提取，并由第三名审稿人确认。结果：确定了1471项研究，筛选了1437项，审查了191篇全文。其中158人被排除，33人（包括1564名治疗师）被纳入最终数据提取和分析。在撒哈拉以南非洲，5项研究（64名治疗师）显示其在预防方面的作用，11项研究（454名治疗师）显示其在诊断方面的作用，27项研究（1524名治疗师）显示其在治疗方面的作用，2项研究（25名治疗师）显示其在姑息治疗方面的作用。虽然一些人希望加强与生物医学系统和转诊患者的合作，但其他人缺乏信任，仍然不愿提供转诊。结论：传统中医在肿瘤治疗中发挥着重要作用。这为利用传统治疗师的技能以承认和尊重当地文化的方式改善癌症治疗提供了机会。未来的研究重点是改善传统治疗师和生物医学保健系统之间的合作，可能会导致加强转诊系统和早期发现和治疗癌症。注册：本研究在PROSPERO注册，CRD42022293055。

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来源期刊

Archives of Public Health Medicine-Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

3.00%

发文量

244

审稿时长

16 weeks

期刊介绍： rchives of Public Health is a broad scope public health journal, dedicated to publishing all sound science in the field of public health. The journal aims to better the understanding of the health of populations. The journal contributes to public health knowledge, enhances the interaction between research, policy and practice and stimulates public health monitoring and indicator development. The journal considers submissions on health outcomes and their determinants, with clear statements about the public health and policy implications. Archives of Public Health welcomes methodological papers (e.g., on study design and bias), papers on health services research, health economics, community interventions, and epidemiological studies dealing with international comparisons, the determinants of inequality in health, and the environmental, behavioural, social, demographic and occupational correlates of health and diseases.