Perceptions of Screening and Early Detection for Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis and their impact on Mental Health: A Scoping Review Protocol

This scoping review protocol has been developed following the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis (Aromataris et al., 2024), which provides rigorous methodological guidance for conducting evidence syntheses. The review will be reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) to ensure methodological transparency and reproducibility (Tricco et al., 2018). By adhering to these established standards, this protocol aims to provide a framework for identifying and mapping existing evidence related to perceptions of screening and early detection for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), with a specific focus on their impact on mental health outcomes. The research question guiding this scoping review is: "What is known from the existing literature about individuals’ perceptions of screening and early detection for Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis, and how do these perceptions impact mental health outcomes?"