Barriers and facilitators to accessing and using sexual and reproductive health services during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Africa: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: BMJ open 2023-06, Vol.13 (6), p.e071753-e071753
• Main Authors: Bolarinwa, Obasanjo Afolabi, Odimegwu, Clifford, Okeke, Sylvester R, Ajayi, Kobi V, Sah, Rajeeb Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abortion; Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Africa - epidemiology; AIDS; Birth control; Citation management software; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Disease Outbreaks - prevention & control; Disease transmission; Editorials; Family planning; Female; Health services; Health Services Accessibility; HIV & AIDS; Humans; Medical tests; Meta-analysis; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Pandemics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Pregnancy; Prenatal care; PUBLIC HEALTH; Reproductive health; Reproductive Health Services; Reproductive medicine; Sexual behavior; Sexual Health; Sexually Transmitted Disease; Sexually transmitted diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases - epidemiology; Sexually Transmitted Diseases - prevention & control; STD; Systematic review; Systematic Reviews as Topic; Womens health
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-071753

IntroductionAccess and utilisation of sexual and reproductive health services remain an important component in averting adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes. However, the unprecedented emergence of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) left most of these services disrupted in Africa. Thus, this protocol study seeks to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of barriers and facilitators to accessing and using sexual and reproductive health services during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Africa.Method and analysisAn open electronic database search will be conducted in African journals online, PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE and PsycINFO to identify potentially eligible studies published between January 2020 and December 2022. Two authors from the research team will screen the title and abstract of the potential studies, and another two authors will independently assess the full articles based on the inclusion or exclusion criteria. Studies will be selected if they examine barriers and facilitators to accessing and using sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning counselling and services, sexually transmitted infections (STIs)/HIV testing, consultation, and treatment, and provision of abortion services during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Africa. The data extracted from the included studies will be analysed using Review Manager (RevMan V.5) and Meta-Analysis software V.3. Each outcome measure will be analysed separately against barriers and facilitators; the dichotomous data will be presented in odd ratios with a 95% CI, while mean and standardised mean differences will be employed to present the continuous data. We envisage that the potential results of this study will identify the barriers and facilitators to family planning counselling and services, STIs/HIV testing, consultation, and treatment, and provision of abortion services during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Africa, which can be used to develop required interventions and policies to curb identified barriers.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval is not required for a systematic review and meta-analysis. Findings from this study will be disseminated through conferences and peer-reviewed publication.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42022373335.