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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0BMJ Open

Health-seeking behaviour of older women: a protocol for a global scoping review

  • Rakhi Ghoshal1
  • Foram Gandhi2
  • Ashutosh Garg3
  • Jasleen Kaur4
  • Vijna Boodhoo5
  • Anita Gadgil6,7
  • Nobhojit Roy8,9
9 affiliations
  1. 1WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Surgical Care in LMICs, Kolkata, India
  2. 2Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  3. 3Department of General Medicine, Dr BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Punjab, India
  4. 4Government Doon Medical College, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
  5. 5University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
  6. 6Program for Global Surgery and Trauma, The George Institute for Global Health India, New Delhi, India
  7. 7Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Silchar, Assam, India
  8. 8Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
  9. 9The George Institute for Global Health India, New Delhi, India
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Abstract

Background: Globally people are living longer and the proportion of older people with health problems is increasing. While women generally outlive men, their additional years are often marked by high levels of morbidity, even as their health needs remain comparatively under-recognised in research, policy and healthcare delivery. To compound this, health-seeking behaviour of older women is also shaped by multiple interacting individual, household, community, socioeconomic and health-system factors that work to delay or hinder timely access to healthcare. The scoping review aims to identify and map factors influencing health-seeking behaviour among women aged 60 years and older globally, examine how these factors are conceptualised across different settings and identify gaps in the existing evidence. This article is the protocol for the proposed scoping review.

Methods and analysis: Studies published in English from 2021 onwards will be identified through searches of PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, IBSS, AgeLine and Google Scholar. Eligible studies will include women aged 60 years and more, from all geographical settings and for all health conditions and will identify all factors influencing health-seeking behaviour. Data will be extracted using a standardised extraction framework. Findings will be synthesised using two complementary frameworks: Andersen’s Behavioural Model of Health Services Use, which categorises predisposing, enabling and need factors, and Penchansky and Thomas’s Five Dimensions of Access, which is adapted to include ‘awareness’ as a sixth dimension. The review will be reported using the PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines.

Ethics and dissemination: This scoping review will synthesise data from publicly available published studies and will not involve primary data collection from human participants or access to identifiable individual-level data; thus, ethical approval is not required. The findings will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication and may also be shared through academic and policy forums relevant to ageing, women’s health and healthcare access.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{ghoshal2026healthseeking,
  title = {{Health-seeking behaviour of older women: a protocol for a global scoping review}},
  author = {Rakhi Ghoshal and Foram Gandhi and Ashutosh Garg and Jasleen Kaur and Vijna Boodhoo and Anita Gadgil and Nobhojit Roy},
  journal = {BMJ Open},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.1136/bmjopen-2026-127153},
  url = {https://bmjopen.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2026-127153},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Health-seeking behaviour of older women: a protocol for a global scoping review
AU  - Rakhi Ghoshal
AU  - Foram Gandhi
AU  - Ashutosh Garg
AU  - Jasleen Kaur
AU  - Vijna Boodhoo
AU  - Anita Gadgil
AU  - Nobhojit Roy
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/02
JO  - BMJ Open
DO  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2026-127153
UR  - https://bmjopen.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2026-127153
AB  - Background: Globally people are living longer and the proportion of older people with health problems is increasing. While women generally outlive men, their additional years are often marked by high levels of morbidity, even as their health needs remain comparatively under-recognised in research, policy and healthcare delivery. To compound this, health-seeking behaviour of older women is also shaped by multiple interacting individual, household, community, socioeconomic and health-system factors that work to delay or hinder timely access to healthcare. The scoping review aims to identify and map factors influencing health-seeking behaviour among women aged 60 years and older globally, examine how these factors are conceptualised across different settings and identify gaps in the existing evidence. This article is the protocol for the proposed scoping review.  Methods and analysis: Studies published in English from 2021 onwards will be identified through searches of PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, IBSS, AgeLine and Google Scholar. Eligible studies will include women aged 60 years and more, from all geographical settings and for all health conditions and will identify all factors influencing health-seeking behaviour. Data will be extracted using a standardised extraction framework. Findings will be synthesised using two complementary frameworks: Andersen’s Behavioural Model of Health Services Use, which categorises predisposing, enabling and need factors, and Penchansky and Thomas’s Five Dimensions of Access, which is adapted to include ‘awareness’ as a sixth dimension. The review will be reported using the PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines.  Ethics and dissemination: This scoping review will synthesise data from publicly available published studies and will not involve primary data collection from human participants or access to identifiable individual-level data; thus, ethical approval is not required. The findings will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication and may also be shared through academic and policy forums relevant to ageing, women’s health and healthcare access.
SN  - 2044-6055
SN  - 2044-6055
ER  -