Large-scale infectious disease testing programs have little consideration for equity: findings from a scoping review

International audienceObjective This scoping review aimed to identify how equity has been considered in large-scale infectious disease testing initiatives. Study Design and Setting Large-scale testing interventions are instrumental for infectious disease control and a central tool for the coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. We searched Web of Science: core collection, Embase and Medline in June 2021 and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses recommendations for scoping reviews. We critically analyzed the content of all included articles. Results Our search resulted in 2448 studies of which 86 were included for data extraction after screening. Of the included articles, 80% reported on COVID-19 -related screening programs. None of the studies presented a formal definition of (in)equity in testing, however, 71 articles did indirectly include elements of equity through the justification of their target population. Of these 71 studies, 58% articles indirectly alluded to health equity according to the PROGRESS-Plus framework, an acronym used to identify a list of socially stratifying characteristics driving inequity in health outcomes. Conclusion The studies included in our scoping review did not explicitly consider equity in their design or evaluation which is imperative for the success of infectious disease testing programs