New Checkbox, Now What? A Scoping Review to Guide Health Research among Middle Eastern and North African Communities

Prior to March 2024, Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) individuals in the United States (US) were overlooked in the health literature. This scoping review aims to clarify current knowledge across domains of physical and mental health conditions, risk factors, and preventive/screening behaviors among MENA populations. It also provides a road map for advancing MENA health research and enabling valid and reliable comparisons to the health of White and other minority populations.

The authors adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines to compile the existing health research. They used PubMed®, EMBASE®, and CINAHL® with an end search date of July 5, 2023. The final search yielded 1826 records, of which 510 articles met the inclusion criteria. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentages) were calculated.

Approximately 79% of the studies collected primary data and 75% were cross-sectional. Thirty-eight percent of the studies included Somalis, 29% Iraqis, and 18% Syrians. Thirty-one percent of the studies were conducted in Michigan, 17% in Minnesota, and 11% in California. The conditions that received the most attention in each domain were stress and trauma (approximately 11% each), infectious diseases (9.2%), cancer screening (6.1%), and diet (4.5%).

This review lays the groundwork for more accurate representation, improved surveillance, and the development of targeted interventions that promote health equity for MENA populations. The findings underscore the need for all organizations that collect race and ethnicity data to integrate MENA-specific identifiers into their practice.