Detailed Methodology for Systematic Reviews of Interventions to Improve the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Young People in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

J Adolesc Health. 2016 Sep;59(3 Suppl):S4-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.07.009.

Abstract

The goal of this project was to systematically review and compile evidence on interventions in low- and middle-income countries, which targeted three adverse health-related outcomes for young people (ages 10-24): (1) early pregnancy and repeat pregnancy; (2) child marriage; and (3) sexually transmitted infections including human immunodeficiency virus. We searched the gray and published literature to identify interventions and developed a scoring system to assess whether these interventions and their evaluations were of high quality. The three review articles in this volume focus on behavioral outcomes and provide a summary of interventions and evaluations that were both successful and unsuccessful in their impact on the targeted outcomes. This commentary provides the details of the methodology that are common across all three review articles.

Keywords: Adolescent; Child marriage; HIV; Low-income countries; Methods; Middle-income countries; Pregnancy; Repeat pregnancy; STI; Young adult.

Publication types

  • Introductory Journal Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Developing Countries
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Marriage*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy in Adolescence / prevention & control*
  • Pregnancy, Unplanned*
  • Reproductive Health*
  • Review Literature as Topic
  • Sexual Behavior
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases / prevention & control*
  • Young Adult