Healthcare workers’ behaviors and personal determinants associated with providing adequate sexual and reproductive healthcare services in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

Research Article

Bart van den Borne¹  Kim Jonas¹  Rik Crutzen¹  Priscilla Reddy² 

[1] Department of Health Promotion, School of Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Faculty of Heath, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands;Faculty of Community and Health Science, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa;Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Population Health, Health Systems and Innovation Unit, Cape Town, South Africa;

关键词: Healthcare worker behaviour;    Personal determinants;    Sexual and reproductive healthcare;    Adolescent health;    Maternal health;    Child health;    Healthcare services;    Systematic review;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12884-017-1268-x

 received in 2016-03-05, accepted in 2017-03-01,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHealthcare workers may affect the utilization of sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) services, and quality of care thereof, for example by their behaviours or attitudes they hold. This can become a hindrance to accessing and utilizing SRH services, particularly by young people, and thus a better understanding of these behaviours and associated factors is needed to improve access to and utilization of SRH services.MethodsA systematic review of literature was conducted to identify studies focusing on healthcare workers’ behaviors and personal determinants associated with providing adequate SRH services in sub-Saharan Africa (January 1990 - October 2015). Five databases were searched until 30th October 2015, using a search strategy that was adapted based on the technical requirements of each specific database. Articles were independently screened for eligibility by two researchers. Of the 125-screened full-text articles, 35 studies met all the inclusion criteria.ResultsNegative behaviours and attitudes of healthcare workers, as well as other personal determinants, such as poor knowledge and skills of SRH services, and related factors, like availability of essential drugs and equipment are associated with provision of inadequate SRH services. Some healthcare workers still have negative attitudes towards young people using contraceptives and are more likely to limit access to and utilization of SRH by adolescents especially. Knowledge of and implementation of specific SRH components are below optimum levels according to the WHO recommended guidelines.ConclusionsHealthcare workers’ negative behaviours and attitudes are unlikely to encourage women in general to access and utilize SRH services, but more specifically young women. Knowledge of SRH services, including basic emergency obstetric care (EmOC) is insufficient among healthcare workers in SSA.Trial registrationA protocol for this systematic review was registered with PROSPERO and the registration number is: CRD42015017509.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017