title: Navigating Language Barriers: A Systematic Review of Patient Navigators' Impact on Cancer Screening for Limited English Proficient Patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To systematically review the literature on the impact of patient navigators on cancer screening for limited English proficient (LEP) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electronic databases (PubMed, PsycINFO via OVID, Web of Science, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Scopus) through 8 May 2015.
  
  
  METHODS
  Articles in this review had: (1) a study population of LEP patients eligible for breast, cervical or colorectal cancer screenings, (2) a patient navigator intervention to provide services prior to or during cancer screening, (3) a comparison of the patient navigator intervention to either a control group or another intervention, and (4) language-specific outcomes related to the patient navigator intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed the quality of the articles using the Downs and Black Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria and evaluated the screening rates for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer in 15 language populations. Fourteen studies resulted in improved screening rates for LEP patients between 7 and 60%. There was great variability in the patient navigation interventions evaluated. Training received by navigators was not reported in nine of the studies and no studies assessed the language skills of the patient navigators in English or the target language.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study is limited by the variability in study designs and limited reporting on patient navigator interventions, which reduces the ability to draw conclusions on the full effect of patient navigators.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, we found evidence that navigators improved screening rates for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening for LEP patients. Future studies should systematically collect data on the training curricula for navigators and assess their English and non-English language skills in order to identify ways to reduce disparities for LEP patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, NY, USA.|Department of Psychology, New School for Social Research, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Margaux C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Genoff
authors.affiliation: University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaballa
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gany
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ramirez
authors.affiliation: Medical Library, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Jewell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, NY, USA. diamondl@mskcc.org.
authors.forename: Lisa C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Diamond
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods; D003144:Communication Barriers; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D062526:Patient Navigation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
keywords: communication barriers; language; limited English proficiency; patient navigators