Digital Health Interventions for Cancer Screening in Sexual and Gender Diverse Populations: A Scoping Review

Current research shows that participation in and adherence to cancer screening guidelines is lower in Sexual and Gender Diverse (SGD) subpopulations (also known as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Queer+) compared to the cisgender, heterosexual population. Digital technology-based interventions (e.g., mobile health apps, web-based, text messaging) have the potential to influence medically marginalized populations and increase engagement in health promotion behaviors. The goal of this paper was to conduct a scoping review on the impact and efficacy of digital interventions that address cancer screening in SGD populations. A scoping review protocol (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/RMFDH) was designed and followed using PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and Scopus. Our search identified 127 citations with 52 identified as duplicates in Covidence, leaving 75 citations for screening. During the title/abstract review stage, two researchers independently removed 68 citations as not meeting the inclusion criteria, leaving seven (7) papers for full-text review. None of the studies met our inclusion criteria. Our findings show that despite known cancer-related health disparities in SGD populations, to date, there are no digital health interventions targeting cancer screening. This dearth indicates a gravely missed opportunity to reduce cancer health disparities in a medically marginalized and underserved population. We provide recommendations and health equity-focused conceptual frameworks to design and test digital interventions for promoting cancer screening in this medically underserved population.