Management of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation waiting lists: a scoping review protocol

Simone Pereira Lermontov1, Valéria Gonçalves da Silva1,2, Thayane Vicente de Aquino1, Ricardo Ribeiro Alves Fernandes2, Marisa Santos2, Tereza Cristina Felippe Guimarães2

1Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 2Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

Introduction

Equitable access to healthcare is a fundamental principle of Public Health systems, and waiting times have become an important performance, efficiency and equality indicator1. In procedures where time directly affects clinical outcomes, such as Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantations (HSCTs), also known as Bone Marrow Transplantations (BMTs), delays in access can determine treatment success or failure2. This complex and potentially curative therapy is indicated for malignant and non-malignant hematologic diseases, including leukemias, lymphomas, myelodysplastic syndromes and aplastic anemia. Despite advances in conditioning regimens, HLA matching and supportive care, organizational challenges persist, resulting in prolonged waiting times and inequalities in access to procedures3-4.

In Brazil, the National Transplant System (Sistema Nacional de Transplantes, SNT), coordinated by the Ministry of Health, serves as the regulatory and normative authority responsible for coordinating, standardizing and supervising all organ, tissue and cell transplants nationwide. Through its policies, the SNT establishes technical and ethical guidelines for donor identification, patient registration and management of waiting lists, ensuring transparency, traceability and equality in access to transplantation services5. Approximately 88% of all HSCT procedures are performed within the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS), reflecting the public and universal nature of this therapy. However, even with existing guidelines and technical recommendations issued by the Brazilian Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (Sociedade Brasileira de Terapia Celular e Transplante de Medula Óssea, SBTMO) and the Ministry of Health, structural and operational barriers remain, such as limited capacity in accredited centers, shortage of specialized beds and regional disparities in service provision2.

These limitations compromise efficiency of the regulatory processes and rational allocation of available resources, posing challenges for managers, who must balance demand, prioritize cases and maintain transparency in allocation criteria. For patients and their families, delayed transplantation can worsen prognosis, increase morbidity and mortality and cause significant emotional, social and economic burdens. A number of studies show that longer intervals between diagnosis and HSCT are associated with higher relapse rates and increased cumulative toxicity, due to the need for multiple treatment lines while the patients wait. Several factors influence this interval, including treatment protocol duration, disease severity and availability of compatible donors. In the Brazilian context, the limitation of specialized HSCT beds in public Hematology units represents an additional barrier to treatment success2,6.

Understanding the dynamics inherent to the management of waiting lists and its implications for both managers and service users is essential to identify organizational gaps and support the development of management tools that contribute to greater process efficiency and equality. A thorough search across MEDLINE (via Ovid), the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Evidence Synthesis revealed no comprehensive or ongoing reviews on this topic. The objective of this scoping review is to map and synthesize the available evidence on the strategies, technologies and criteria used in the management of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation waiting lists across different healthcare settings.

Review question (PCC-based formulation)

Which are the proposed strategies and methods for managing HSCT waiting lists?

Which is the reported waiting time between a patient's inclusion on an HSCT waiting list and performance of the transplant?

Inclusion criteria

Population (P): Individuals of all ages who are registered on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation waiting lists at any stage of the pre-transplant process, including evaluation, eligibility assessment or referral. This population includes candidates for both autologous and allogeneic HSCTs (from related or unrelated donors), regardless of the underlying disease.

Concept (C): Management of HSCT waiting lists encompasses organizational strategies, operational systems and institutional frameworks used to organize, prioritize and allocate transplants. This includes operational practices such as workflow models, scheduling protocols, computerized systems and prioritization algorithms; institutional criteria and policies defining clinical eligibility, donor-recipient matching and equality parameters; and technological innovations, including established digital tools (e.g., registry databases, electronic dashboards) as well as emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, predictive analytics and automation applied to the management of transplantation waiting lists. Collectively, these elements describe how different health systems structure, coordinate and optimize the management of HSCT waiting lists to enhance efficiency, transparency and equality in access to transplantation.

Context (C): Health systems or theoretical models in which the management of HSCT waiting lists is, or could be, conducted. This includes existing public or private institutions at the national or international level, as well as conceptual or proposed frameworks designed to improve waiting-list organization and access. The context may encompass centralized, decentralized or hybrid systems, while also allowing for the development of innovative or theoretical approaches tailored to different healthcare realities.

Types of sources

All peer-reviewed study designs from the academic literature will be considered, provided that they are relevant to the research questions and meet the inclusion criteria. This will include quantitative evidence, such as analytical observational studies (e.g., prospective and retrospective cohort studies) and descriptive observational designs (e.g., cross-sectional analyses); qualitative evidence, including qualitative descriptive and interpretive study designs (e.g., Grounded Theory, Phenomenology or Thematic Analysis); and evidence syntheses, such as systematic reviews, scoping reviews and narrative literature reviews.

Method

This scoping review protocol has been developed in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews, as described by Peters et al.7, and adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist8. The scoping review will be conducted with the aim of identifying, mapping, analyzing and synthesizing key concepts and existing knowledge gaps related to the topic of interest9. This type of review is particularly useful for examining the breadth, scope and nature of available evidence as well as for informing future research directions. This review has been registered at the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/592n4).

Search strategy

The search strategy will aim at locating both published and unpublished documents. It was developed with the support of two expert health sciences librarians and will be conducted in accordance with the methodological guidelines for scoping reviews set forth by the JBI7, incorporating a comprehensive and structured approach that prioritizes developing sensitive and specific search strategies tailored to each electronic database and Grey Literature source.

Initially, a preliminary search was conducted in MEDLINE (PubMed) and in the Virtual Health Library (Biblioteca Virtual Em Saúde, BVS) with the support of a specialized librarian, in order to identify relevant controlled and uncontrolled terms based on the Health Sciences Descriptors (Descritores em Ciências da Saúde, DeCS) and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). This step aims at mapping the main terms and synonyms related to the topic, which will inform the development of a comprehensive search strategy.

Based on this mapping, a tailored search strategy will be developed for each database, ensuring consistency with the review objectives and respecting the specific indexing characteristics inherent to each platform (Chart 1). The databases to be consulted include MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase (via Ovid), Scopus, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library (systematic reviews and clinical trials) and the Virtual Health Library (BVS).

Chart 1 - Search strategies used in each Database. Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil, 2025.

Database

Platform

Search Strategy

MEDLINE

PubMed

("Waiting Lists"[MeSH Terms] OR ("waiting"[All Fields] AND "lists"[All Fields]) OR "Waiting Lists"[All Fields] OR "waitlist"[All Fields] OR "waitlisted"[All Fields] OR "waitlisting"[All Fields] OR "waitlists"[All Fields] OR "waitlist time"[All Fields] OR "Waiting list"[All Fields] OR "waiting time"[All Fields] OR "Waiting Lists"[All Fields] OR "list waiting"[All Fields] OR "lists waiting"[All Fields] OR "Waiting Times"[All Fields]) AND ("Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation"[All Fields] OR "stem cell transplantation hematopoietic"[All Fields] OR "transplantation hematopoietic stem cell"[All Fields] OR "Bone marrow transplantation"[All Fields] OR "Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation"[All Fields] OR "Bone Marrow Grafting"[All Fields] OR "grafting bone marrow"[All Fields] OR "transplantation bone marrow"[All Fields] OR ("Bone marrow transplantation"[MeSH Terms] OR ("bone"[All Fields] AND "marrow"[All Fields] AND "transplantation"[All Fields]) OR "Bone marrow transplantation"[All Fields] OR ("transplantation"[All Fields] AND "bone"[All Fields] AND "marrow"[All Fields] AND "cell"[All Fields])))

Virtual Health Library (BVS)

Regional

(mh: "Waiting Lists" OR waitlists OR "waitlist time" OR "Waiting list" OR "waiting time" OR "Waiting Lists" OR "List, Waiting" OR "Lists, Waiting" OR "Waiting Times") AND ("Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation" OR "Stem Cell Transplantation, Hematopoietic" OR "Transplantation, Hematopoietic Stem Cell" OR "Bone marrow transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Grafting" OR "Grafting, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow Cell") AND instance:"regional"

EMBASE

Ovid

('hospital admission'/exp OR 'waiting lists':ti,ab,kw OR 'waiting list':ti,ab,kw OR 'waitlist':ti,ab,kw OR 'waitlisted':ti,ab,kw OR 'waitlisting':ti,ab,kw OR 'waitlists':ti,ab,kw OR 'waitlist time':ti,ab,kw OR 'waiting time':ti,ab,kw) AND ('hematopoietic stem cell transplantation'/exp OR 'hematopoietic stem cell transplantation':ti,ab,kw OR 'stem cell transplantation hematopoietic':ti,ab,kw OR 'transplantation hematopoietic stem cell':ti,ab,kw OR 'bone marrow transplantation'/exp OR 'bone marrow transplantation':ti,ab,kw OR 'bone marrow cell transplantation':ti,ab,kw OR 'bone marrow grafting':ti,ab,kw OR 'grafting bone marrow':ti,ab,kw OR 'transplantation bone marrow':ti,ab,kw OR (('transplantability' OR 'transplantable' OR 'transplantated' OR 'transplantating' OR 'transplantations' OR 'transplanted' OR 'transplanting' OR 'transplantation' OR 'transplantation s' OR 'transplanter' OR 'transplanters' OR 'transplantion' OR 'transplantation'/exp OR 'transplants' OR 'transplant') AND 'bone marrow cell':ti,ab,kw))

Scopus

Scopus

TITLE-ABS-KEY (waitlists OR "waitlist time" OR "Waiting list" OR "waiting time" OR "Waiting Lists" OR "List, Waiting" OR "Lists, Waiting" OR "Waiting Times") AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ("Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation" OR "Stem Cell Transplantation, Hematopoietic" OR "Transplantation, Hematopoietic Stem Cell" OR "Bone marrow transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Grafting" OR "Grafting, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow Cell")

Web of Science

Web of Science

Waitlists OR "waitlist time" OR "Waiting list" OR "waiting time" OR "Waiting Lists" OR "List, Waiting" OR "Lists, Waiting" OR "Waiting Times" (All Fields) AND "Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation" OR "Stem Cell Transplantation, Hematopoietic" OR "Transplantation, Hematopoietic Stem Cell" OR "Bone marrow transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Grafting" OR "Grafting, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow Cell" (All Fields)

Cochrane Reviews

Cochrane Library

Cochrane Reviews matching Waitlists OR "waitlist time" OR "Waiting list" OR "waiting time" OR "Waiting Lists" OR "List, Waiting" OR "Lists, Waiting" OR "Waiting Times" in All Text AND "Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation" OR "Stem Cell Transplantation, Hematopoietic" OR "Transplantation, Hematopoietic Stem Cell" OR "Bone marrow transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Grafting" OR "Grafting, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow Cell" in All Text - (Word variations have been searched)

Cochrane Trials

Cochrane Library

Trials matching Waitlists OR "waitlist time" OR "Waiting list" OR "waiting time" OR "Waiting Lists" OR "List, Waiting" OR "Lists, Waiting" OR "Waiting Times" in All Text AND "Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation" OR "Stem Cell Transplantation, Hematopoietic" OR "Transplantation, Hematopoietic Stem Cell" OR "Bone marrow transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation" OR "Bone Marrow Grafting" OR "Grafting, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow" OR "Transplantation, Bone Marrow Cell" in All Text - (Word variations have been searched)

In addition, the Journal of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (JBMTCT) will be included in this review due to its thematic relevance to the HSCT field. Although not indexed in international databases, it is the official journal of the Brazilian Society of Cellular Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplantation (SBTMO) and publishes practical evidence and clinical experiences from the Brazilian context, particularly within the Public Health system (SUS). Its inclusion seeks to capture complementary and context-specific information that may not be available in the indexed sources.

The searches in the Grey Literature will include national and international hematopoietic stem cell donor registries and transplant coordination networks analogous to the Brazilian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (Registro Brasileiro de Doadores Voluntários de Medula Óssea, REDOME), as well as relevant regulatory bodies, cooperative societies and data repositories. These may include, for example, the Spanish Bone Marrow Donor Registry (Registro de Donantes de Médula Ósea, REDMO), the Italian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (IBMDR), the Stem Cell Donor Registry (CEDACE) coordinated by the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (Instituto Português do Sangue e da Transplantação, IPST), the Canadian national stem cell registry (OneMatch/Canadian Blood Services), the United States National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) and the Japan Marrow Donor Program (JMDP), along with global coordination and professional structures such as the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) and the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). The Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) will also be considered given its relevance for global outcome reporting, governance frameworks and operational benchmarking in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This list is illustrative and not exhaustive; additional national and international registries or coordinating bodies identified during the search will also be considered if relevant to waiting-list governance and access to HSCT.

In Brazil, the Grey Literature sources will include the Brazilian Theses and Dissertations Digital Database (Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações, BDTD), the Brazilian Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation (SBTMO), the Brazilian Association of Organ Transplantation (Associação Brasileira de Transplante de Órgãos, ABTO) and the Brazilian Transplant Registry (Registro Brasileiro de Transplantes, RBT), as well as the National Cancer Institute (Instituto Nacional de Câncer, INCA). Governmental and regulatory sources will include the Ministry of Health legislation portal, the Federal Official Gazette and relevant regulatory frameworks issued by national health authorities. Open platforms such as Google Scholar will also be used to identify institutional reports, clinical guidelines, dissertations, conference materials and technical documents not indexed in traditional academic databases.

The "snowball" technique will be applied to the studies included by analyzing lists of references to identify additional potentially relevant publications. All studies will be considered for inclusion regardless of publication language. Translation tools or institutional resources will be used as needed to ensure inclusion of studies published in languages other than English, Spanish or Portuguese. No restrictions will be applied regarding publication date, as the aim is to comprehensively map the historical evolution, key concepts and existing gaps related to the management of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation waiting lists.

Selection of evidence sources

Following execution of the search strategies, all citations retrieved will be exported to the Rayyan software10, a collaborative platform that aids in reference screening for systematic and scoping reviews. At this stage, the tool will identify and automatically remove duplicates.

Before formal screening begins, a pilot test will be conducted using a random sample of five studies to ensure consistency in applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. This sample will be independently assessed by all reviewers. After this step, the reviewers will discuss any and all discrepancies and align their interpretations, with the goal of achieving a minimum agreement level of 80%.

Once the calibration phase is completed, the titles and abstracts of the studies will be independently evaluated by two reviewers, and the materials deemed potentially eligible will move on to the full-text review phase. In cases of disagreement between the reviewers, a third one will be consulted to make the final decision. The entire selection process will be documented in a flowchart, in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines.8

Data extraction

Data extraction from the studies included will be performed independently by two reviewers, using a pre-established and tested extraction form. This tool will be developed based on the JBI recommendations and specifically adapted to the objectives and research question of this scoping review.

The data extraction form will preliminarily include the following elements: study title, authors, publication year, country of origin, type of publication, study objective, methodological design, target population, interventions or strategies described, key findings related to the management of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) waiting lists and implications for practice or future research.

Given the iterative nature of scoping reviews, the extraction form may be refined throughout the process as new relevant categories are identified while reviewing the studies included. All changes made to the extraction tool will be documented and justified in the final report, ensuring methodological transparency.

In case of discrepancies between reviewers during data extraction, disagreements will be solved by consensus or, when necessary, by involving a third reviewer. The data extracted will be organized in a spreadsheet (e.g., Microsoft Excel) or entered directly into a qualitative data analysis software program, depending on the nature of the data and the analytical objectives of the review10-11.

Data analysis and presentation

The data extracted from the studies included will be systematically organized using tabular representations consistent with the objectives and research question of the review. As recommended by the JBI methodology for scoping reviews,7 descriptive analyses will be performed to map the main characteristics of the studies, including publication type, authorship, publication year, country of origin and thematic focus.

The tables will be accompanied by a narrative synthesis that contextualizes the data in relation to the review objectives and its guiding questions. This descriptive presentation will aim at highlighting distribution of the studies over time, their geographical locations and the strategies identified for managing HSCT waiting lists (Table 1).

Table 1 - Draft data extraction form. Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil, 2025.

Field

Description/Content

Reference

Author(s), year, title, journal, DOI

Country/Context

Country of origin and healthcare system or institutional setting

Study type

Design (e.g., observational, qualitative, mixed-methods)

Purpose/Objective

Study aim or objective

Context/Setting

Clinical or policy context in which the study was conducted

Target population

Population or participants included

Age group

Age group of the participants

Sample size

Total number of participants or units studied

Type of HSCT

Type of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (e.g., autologous, allogeneic)

Underlying disease

Primary condition (e.g., AML, MDS, etc.)

Waiting-list management approach

Strategy used for prioritization or allocation (e.g., urgency, time-based)

Technologies/Strategies used

Information systems, software, organizational processes or tools used

Interventions

Any specific measures or procedures evaluated

Outcomes assessed

Clinical or operational outcomes related to the management of waiting lists

Key findings related to the ScR question

Results directly relevant to the scoping review objectives

Conclusions/

Recommendations

Author's conclusions and any policy or clinical recommendations

Gaps identified

Gaps in knowledge, evidence or practice identified by the authors

Study limitations

Limitations as reported by the study authors

Challenges

Barriers or challenges identified in implementing or studying the strategies

Reason for exclusion (if applicable)

Only used during full-text screening, to record reasons for exclusion

In order to support the qualitative data analysis, a suitable Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) program will be employed. This tool will enable systematic thematic coding, generation of visual representations such as word clouds and synthesis of descriptive statistics. This analytical phase will contribute to identifying recurrent themes, knowledge gaps and emerging patterns within the selected literature11.

Finally, the findings will be critically discussed, considering their implications for the clinical practice, the development of health policies and the formulation of questions for future research. 

Final considerations

The results of this review may provide valuable insights for healthcare professionals, managers and policymakers, contributing to understanding current practices as well as the barriers and opportunities in the management of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) waiting lists. Furthermore, these findings may guide the development of future research studies aimed at exploring aspects that have been under-represented in the literature.

It is expected that this mapped synthesis of available evidence will inform improvements in the clinical practice and the planning of HSCT-related services, as well as highlight critical areas requiring further scientific production.

Author Contributions

Study conception: Simone Pereira Lermontov; Tereza Cristina Felippe Guimarães. Data collection: Simone Pereira Lermontov; Valéria Gonçalves da Silva; Thayane Vicente de Aquino. Data analysis and interpretation: Simone Pereira Lermontov; Marina Santos; Tereza Cristina Felippe Guimarães. Manuscript writing: Simone Pereira Lermontov. Critical review of the manuscript: Ricardo Ribeiro Alves Fernandes; Marina Santos; Tereza Cristina Felippe Guimarães. Approval of the final version of the text: Simone Pereira Lermontov; Valéria Gonçalves da Silva; Thayane Vicente de Aquino; Ricardo Ribeiro Alves Fernandes; Marina Santos; Tereza Cristina Felippe Guimarães.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. 

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Erinalva Batista from the University of São Paulo (USP) Library for her valuable assistance in developing the search strategy. We also acknowledge Francijane Oliveira da Conceição and Ingrid Vianna Espinosa from the National Institute of Cardiology (Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia, INC) Library for reviewing the search strategy across the databases selected.

This protocol will contribute to the PhD thesis in Health Technology Assessment presented by SPL at the National Institute of Cardiology (INC), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

References

1. Tomasiello DB, Vieira JPB, Parga JPFA, Servo LMS, Pereira RHM. Racial and income inequalities in access to healthcare in Brazilian cities. Journal of Transport & Health [Internet]. 2024 Jan [cited 2025 Oct 27];34:101722. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2023.101722

2. Duarte F, Barroso K, Darrigo Juniro L, Bonfim C. Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for all: A report from the 2024 Congress of the Brazilian Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Society (SBTMO). J Bone Marrow Transplant Cell [Internet]. 2024 Sept 25 [cited 2025 Oct 28];5(2):244. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46765/2675-374X.2024v5n2p244

3. Rotz SJ, Bhatt NS, Hamilton BK, Duncan C, Aljurf M, Atsuta Y, et al. International Recommendations for Screening and Preventative Practices for Long-Term Survivors of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy: A 2023 Update. Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. 2024 Apr;30(4):349–85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtct.2023.12.001

4. Saad A, De Lima M, Anand S, Bhatt VR, Bookout R, Chen G, et al. Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Version 2.2020, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network [Internet]. 2020 May [cited 2025 Sept 16];18(5):599–634. Available from: https://jnccn.org/view/journals/jnccn/18/5/article-p599.xml

5. Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. PORTARIA GM/MS No 1.262, DE 12 DE SETEMBRO DE 2023. Dispõe sobre a Política Nacional de Transplantes e Doação de Órgãos, Tecidos, Células e Partes do Corpo Humano. Diário Oficial da União [Internet]. Brasília (DF); 2023 [cited 2025 June 1]. Available from: https://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/saudelegis/gm/2023/prt1262_13_09_2023.html

6. Silva TS, Horvath JDC, Pereira MP, David CN de, Vargas DF, Rigoni LDC, et al. Impact of waitlist time on post-HSCT survival: a cohort study at a hospital in southern Brazil. Hematol Transfus Cell Ther [Internet]. 2024;46(3):242–9. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.htct.2023.03.021

7. Peters M, Godfrey C, McInerney P, Munn Z, Tricco A, Khalil H. Manual for Evidence Synthesis [Internet]. JBI; 2024 [cited 2025 May 16]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46658/JBIMES-24-09

8. Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W, O’Brien KK, Colquhoun H, Levac D, et al. PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation. Ann Intern Med [Internet]. 2018 Oct 2 [cited 2025 Oct 27];169(7):467–73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7326/m18-0850

9. Munn Z, Pollock D, Khalil H, Alexander L, Mclnerney P, Godfrey CM, et al. What are scoping reviews? Providing a formal definition of scoping reviews as a type of evidence synthesis. JBI Evidence Synthesis [Internet]. 2022 Apr [cited 2025 Oct 27];20(4):950–2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-21-00483

10. Reis AHS dos, De Oliveira ALM, Fritsch C, Zouch J, Ferreira P, Polese JC. Usefulness of machine learning softwares to screen titles of systematic reviews: a methodological study. Syst Rev [Internet]. 2023 Apr 15 [cited 2025 Oct 27];12(1):68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02231-3

11. Sousa JRD, Santos SCMD. Análise de conteúdo em pesquisa qualitativa: modo de pensar e de fazer. PDE [Internet]. 2020 Dec 31 [cited 2025 Oct 27];10(2):1396–416. DOI: https://doi.org/10.34019/2237-9444.2020.v10.31559

Corresponding Author

Name: Simone Pereira Lermontov

E-mail: simone.lermontov@inca.gov.br

The Author(s) 2026.  This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. License text for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.pt_BR