Candidacy and accessing primary care services: A systematic scoping review of quantitative surveys

https://osf.io/kzdvu Abstract Introduction: Inequalities in access to primary care services disproportionately affect vulnerable populations and those with greater needs (e.g., people with learning disability). The Candidacy Framework is a tool that can be used to ascertain the real-life complexities influencing access to services for disadvantaged populations (e.g., ability to recognise symptoms, agency to seek help, direct and indirect costs). Objectives: To catalogue validated quantitative surveys that assess access to primary care services and patient care experience; map survey questions to the seven stages of the Candidacy Framework; document any accessible version of the identified validated surveys and map the population groups that the adaptations aimed to benefit. Inclusion criteria: Peer-reviewed articles reporting the development or use of validated quantitative surveys with adults to assess access and use of primary care services and patient care experience; articles published in English from 2007 to present date. Methods: The Arksey and O’Malley Framework, the Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), the PRISMA-Equity Checklist, and PROGRESS-Plus will guide this study. Electronic databases (Medline, CINHAL, PsycINFO, Embase, and Web of Science) will be used to identify relevant studies. Data extracted will be presented graphically, tabulated, or similar format, and accompanied by a narrative report.