Background: Holistic care is becoming increasingly a priority in cancer treatment, including blood cancers, especially for women of reproductive potential (defined as women aged 15-49 years) who deal withunique challenges and circumstances. These challenges include fertility, sexual health, contraceptive counselling and use, and menstrual health. This is especially important in blood cancers because of their incidence during reproductive years.

Objective: This systematic review aimed to explore the barriers and enablers of healthcare providers taking thorough reproductive histories of women with reproductive potential.

Methods: Fifteen studies were included in this review, after searching PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL from 02 April 2024 to April 18, 2024, resulting in 565 articles. Searches were refined to include clinicians treating women with reproductive potential for cancer.

Results: Most studies focused on fertility history taking and counselling, and one study examined contraception in this population. The key barriers were categorized ashealthcare provider-related, patient-related, clinical/medical, organizational and accessibility-related. The most common barrier identified was healthcare providers' lack of knowledge around reproductive health in the context of cancer care, followed by consultation time limitations. The majority of the barriers can be traced back to personal beliefs and assumptions made by the healthcare provider regarding patient demographics and characteristics. Of the 15 studies, only three discussed enablers aiding clinicians in obtaining reproductive histories, including onsite obstetrics and gynecology services and standardized referral processes.

Conclusion: This review highlights an urgent need for the education of healthcare providers working in cancer care with patients of reproductive potential to ensure that reproductive health is not surpassed by the current cancer diagnosis. There is also a need for tangible guidelines regarding reproductive care for cancer patients, and for reproductive history and counselling to be mandatory in cancer care and ensure equitable access to holistic cancer care. Furthermore, there has to be increased research to understand the enablers to clinicians who are able to obtain thorough reproductive histories, which can form the basis for effective interventions to be put into place.

Disclosures

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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2024
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