Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Adolescent Cancer Prevention Interventions in Rural Primary Care Settings: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Purpose: We conducted a scoping review of studies to examine the implementation of interventions to promote adolescent cancer prevention in rural, primary care settings and identify barriers and facilitators.

Methods: We followed the JBI scoping review protocol and used a systematic extraction and coding process. Our search of MEDLINE, PsycInfo, Cochrane, CINAHL, and Scopus identified articles related to implementation of interventions in the following areas: obesity, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, tobacco use, and sun exposure. We used the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), an implementation framework consisting of 5 domains (outer setting, inner setting, intervention characteristics, individual characteristics, process), each with a sub-set of constructs, to classify barriers and facilitators reported.

Results: We identified 3046 references, excluded 2969 during initial screening, assessed 74 for full-text eligibility, and abstracted 24. Of these, 17 addressed obesity, 6 addressed HPV vaccination, 1 addressed skin cancer, and 1 addressed multiple behaviors. 10 studies were either non-randomized experimental designs (n=8) or randomized controlled trials (n=2). The remaining were observational or descriptive research. Barriers in the outer setting (e.g., lack of external funding sources, patients' beliefs) and inner setting (e.g., time available for implementation efforts and clinic infrastructure) were most common, compared to the other CFIR domains. Similarly, facilitators in the outer setting (e.g., partnerships with other organizations and parents' trust in health care providers) and inner setting (e.g., efficiency in practice protocols) were commonly reported.

Conclusions: Adolescence is a critical growth window to establish healthy behaviors to prevent future cancers. Rural areas have higher rates of cancer morbidity and mortality than urban ones, putting rural adolescents at heightened risk for cancers. Yet, we found a dearth of studies addressing the implementation of adolescent cancer prevention in rural primary care settings. Further research is needed to understand the implementation challenges and potential strategies to improve implementation efforts to promote cancer prevention among rural adolescents.