Challenges Associated with Medical Travel for Cancer Patients in the Arab World: A Systematic Review

Abstract

AbstractIntroduction: Each year, millions of patients around the world seek medical care abroad. Medical travel is becoming very common in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC) due to many motivational factors. It has been observed that the rate of cancer incidence is growing at an alarmingly high rate in Arab countries. In addition, as per the literature, cancer seems to be one of the top medical conditions for patients from the GCC to seek healthcare overseas. There are many factors associated with cancer patients seeking treatment overseas. However, unfortunately, there are very few studies that discuss the risks and challenges associated with the medical travel experience for those patients.Objective: We conducted a systematic review to summarize the evidence related to the complications and challenges associated with the medical travel experience for oncology patients in the Arab world.Materials and Methods: This systematic review was guided by PRISMA. PubMed was used as a search database by using a combination of medical travel, complications, and cancer keywords for publications which yielded 76 articles. Four coders independently determined eligibility based on PICOS and then extracted information from 14 articles. The resulting articles are based on three main categories, i.e., primary, and secondary data collection, and review articles.Results: Of the total 76 articles, only 14 were included because they met the criteria. 62 articles were excluded because of irrelevance of the title, abstract, and insufficient data. Although this systematic review aimed to look at the medical complications that may arise from the medical travel experience for oncology patients, other challenges were found. The challenges reported can be grouped into the following themes: (a) financial and economic aspects, (b) medical care aspects, (c) social and cultural aspects.Conclusion: Overall, more research studies are required in the Arab world for cancer patients treated overseas. The existence of such information around this topic will help in improving policies and strategies related to medical travel for the different stakeholders involved in the medical travel market. Moreover, these studies will not only aid in improving the quality of care for cancer patients who are engaging in medical travel, but they will also help in overcoming the challenges associated with medical travel experience for cancer patients at the different stages of the experience.