Preventive practices towards Sexually Transmitted Infection and its determinants among young people in Ethiopia: a protocol for a systematic review and Meta-analysis
Abstract Background Globally, about 178.5 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections occur among young people aged 15–24 years. There are fragmented and inconsistent findings on preventive practices of sexually transmitted infection and there is no national representative data on preventive practices of sexually transmitted infection in Ethiopia. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of good preventive practices of sexually transmitted infection and identify its determinants among young people in Ethiopia. Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guideline was employed to develop the review protocol. Databases such as PubMed, CINAH, Google, and Google Scholar were used to search published and unpublished studies from May 15 − 12 August/2021. Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument will be used to assess the quality of the studies. Statistical heterogeneity will be checked using I2 statistics. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression will be done based on regions to identify the sources of heterogeneity at a p-value < 0.05. The statistical analysis will be done using STATA version-14 software. A random-effects model will be employed to estimate the pooled prevalence and identify determinants of preventive practices of sexually transmitted infections. Discussion Young people have a high unmet need for sexual and reproductive health services and poor preventive practices toward sexually transmitted infection. Despite different interventions implemented to enhance the preventive practice of sexually transmitted infection among young people, the problem is still a challenge in low-income countries, including Ethiopia