Table 2.
Characteristics of the selected studies.
| Study | Country | Objective | Design and methods | Policy or program addressed | Reference framework |
| Agarwal et al [20] | Mexico, Croatia, South Africa, and India | Identify possible indicators associated with early diagnosis of BCa in lower-income countries | Quantitative descriptive study; analysis of presented articles about “Breast Cancer Care in Developing Countries” at the International Surgery Week in Montreal, Canada, 2007 | International Breast Surgery Program | International: intervention programs |
| Anderson and Cazap [21] | Latin America | Develop guidelines for the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of BC in low- and middle-income countries | Review article; variables analyzed: prevention of BC, early detection (self-examination), diagnosis (clinical examination and mammography), and treatment | Breast Health Global Initiative | International: Breast Health Global Initiative; national: National Comprehensive Cancer Network |
| Bridges et al [22] | Latin America and lower-income countries (Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa) | Identify and compare BC control strategies in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa to develop a common framework to guide the development of national BC control strategies | Qualitative study; 221 semistructured interviews with specialists from 29 different countries on the capacity to train qualified nurses, research infrastructure, and health education | Action program (identified control strategies in the aforementioned countries) | International: WHOb |
| Castrezana [23] | Mexico | Relate the presence of BC in certain geographic spaces with the convergence of environmental and socioeconomic variables | Quantitative analytical study; period: 2000-2012; women younger than 14 years; geospatial analysis of possible risk factors for the development of BC; multivariate regression | No specific program mentioned | National: Breast Cancer Action Program of the Ministry of Health of Mexico |
| Corcoran et al [37] | United States | Analyze the effectiveness of interventions designed to increase mammography testing of Latin American women residing in the United States | Systematic review; study period: 2009-2011 | No specific program mentioned | National: US National Cancer Institute |
| Gervas and Pérez [34] | Spain | Analyze the effectiveness of health programs that focus on mammography screening | Quantitative, descriptive, observational study; a health action review on BC | No specific program mentioned | National: BC screening programs in Spain |
| González et al [24] | Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela | Analyze the focus of government actions to apply in legislative and operational terms and identify challenges and deficiencies | Literature review; retrospective study; study period: 1990-2008; 90 articles included | BC detection programs in the countries studied | International: IARCc |
| González et al [39] | Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela | Analysis of BC care policies and programs in several Latin American countries | Qualitative exploratory study; models used: Hogwood and Gunn; BC prevalence, incidence, and mortality statistics were analyzed; interviews with key actors in the countries indicated | The policies of each country were analyzed, and main national BC care and control programs were included. | International: PAHOd and WHO international reference framework; national: BC national programs of each country |
| Knaul et al [25] | Mexico | Present world statistics on BC in developing countries, analyze mortality trends in Mexico, and present available data on health care use and access barriers | Descriptive quantitative study based on secondary sources | The Popular Health Insurance Program and the Official Mexican Standard for Cancer Control | International: WHO; national: INEGIe, Ministry of Health, and CONAPOf |
| Magaña et al [35] | Mexico | Describe the strategies and actions developed within a training program for the early detection of BC designed for first-level care personnel | Quantitative, experimental, analytical study; evaluation of skills acquired with the training that was implemented from 2008 to 2014 | Analyzed the National Medical Education Program for Health Professionals | National: national policies for BC care and control |
| Martínez et al [31] | Mexico | Analyze BC mortality in Mexico and international recommendations on screening programs; present key aspects of the BC detection and control action program from 2007 to 2012 | Qualitative study; health program focused on BC prevention between 2007 and 2012 that covered previous strategies | Breast Cancer Action Program in Mexico from 2007 to 2012 | International: WHO and IARC; national: Breast Cancer Action Program in Mexico 2007-2012 |
| Niëns et al [26] | Costa Rica and Mexico | Identify the most cost-effective interventions for BC control in Costa Rica and Mexico from the perspective of medical care | Quantitative study; cost-effectiveness analysis; the average cost-effectiveness ratio of each intervention was calculated | Intervention programs at the IMSSg and the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica | International: WHO |
| Nigenda et al [27] | Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela | Analyze the efforts of 5 Latin American countries in the last 15 years to design and implement BC-related policies | Qualitative study; semistructured interviews with key informants from governmental and nongovernmental organizations; analysis of secondary data from publications in magazines, government reports, and official statistics in each country | Public policies for BC care in the countries included | International: WHO; national: from each country |
| Robles and Galanis [28] | Latin America, Canada, and the United States | Examine BC mortality in Latin American and Caribbean countries; compare with mortality levels in Canada and the United States; evaluate arguments to develop BC screening programs | Quantitative analytical study; vital statistics records; published data from the cancer registry and information available from the PAHO on disease prevention and control programs, health expenditures, and health service organizations in the region of the Americas | PAHO cancer statistics records of the countries included in the study | International: PAHO, WHO, and IARC |
| Smith [32] | Latin America, North America, the Middle East, Australia, Asia, and Europe | Analyze BC programs and policies in the countries of the 5 global regions of the WHO to propose programs based on the criteria of the WHO and on each country’s local contexts (type D)h | Review study that analyzed national organized screening policies and programs vs opportunistic screening; only low- to middle-income countries were included in the study | Comparative analysis of organized screening policies and programs vs opportunistic screening, mammography, and BC detection programs | International: WHO; national: from each analyzed country |
| Strasser et al [33] | Latin America | Highlight structural reforms in health care systems, new programs for disenfranchised populations, expansion of national cancer registries, and policy plans and implementation to improve primary prevention of cancer | Quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study; health expenditure variables and fragmentation of health systems were analyzed | Health policies that exist in Latin American countries to prevent and control cancer in general were analyzed | International: WHO; national: policies and regulations of each of the countries included |
| Tapia et al [36] | Mexico | Show teenager perception of BC campaigns | Qualitative study through 13 focus groups | Several BC prevention and national control programs were analyzed | National: Official Mexican Standard for the prevention and control of BC |
| Torres et al [29] | Mexico | Present the patterns of use of female cancer prevention programs during the 2000 to 2012 period: Papanicolaou test, HPVi test, and mammography | Quantitative, analytical, cross-sectional study; period: 2000-2012; based on national health surveys | BC screening programs using mammography were analyzed | National: Official Mexican Standard for the prevention and control of BC |
| Ulloa et al [30] | Mexico | Estimate the cost-effectiveness of the BC screening programs and contribute to the decision-making process about the use of these prevention programs | Quantitative, analytical, comparative study through scenario simulation; analysis focused on estimating survival and mortality as well as relating costs to BC diagnosis | The analyzed programs were simulations based on real parameters | International: WHO; methodology for cost-benefit analysis |
| Valencia et al [38] | Mexico | Estimate the cost-effectiveness ratio of BC prevention programs | Quantitative, analytical, cross-sectional study based on the Markov model with 4 processes: the natural evolution of BC, BC detection through mammography screening, BC treatment, and dynamics of mortality from other causes | BC prevention and control policies in Mexico were analyzed | International: WHO; national: BC prevention and control programs in Mexico |
aBC: breast cancer.
bWHO: World Health Organization.
cIARC: International Agency for Research on Cancer.
dPAHO: Pan American Health Organization.
eINEGI: National Institute of Statistics and Geography.
fCONAPO: National Population Council.
gIMSS: Mexican Institute of Social Security.
hThe type of objective indicated in parentheses in the description of each objective corresponds to the classification made by the authors, which is presented in the Results section.
iHPV: human papillomavirus.