scholarly journals Does Digital Literacy Empower Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salima Meherali ◽  
Komal Abdul Rahim ◽  
Sandra Campbell ◽  
Zohra S. Lassi
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Literacy Interventions ◽  
Young Girls ◽  
Middle Income Countries

Background: The vast majority (90%) of the world's adolescents aged 10–19 live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); and in those resource-limited settings, girls face distinct challenges across multiple health, social, and economic domains. Gender equality and girls' empowerment are key goals in their own right and are central to all other development goals. Digital literacy is a great enabler for the empowerment of young girls. This systematic review aims to assess the range and nature of digital literacy interventions implemented to empower adolescent girls in LMICs and identify evidence about adolescent girls' access and use of digital technologies in LMICs.Methods: We conducted a systematic review of studies following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) standards for systematic reviews. Two reviewers selected studies, conducted quality assessments, and extracted data by using standard forms. The collected data include the design of the study, type of digital literacy intervention, target audience, intervention received, intervention reach, data analysis, and study outcomes. The review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020216756).Results: Thirty-five studies met the eligibility for inclusion and of those, 11 were experimental studies (randomized controlled trial = 6; quasi-experimental = 2; before-after with no control = 3), 11 were cross-sectional/descriptive studies, seven studies used a mixed-method approach, and six were qualitative studies on digital literacy interventions to empower young girls in LMICs. The majority of digital literacy interventions were designed and implemented to improve sexual and reproductive health rights and decision-making of adolescent girls in LMICs (n = 33). Only three papers reported the use of digital media for health-related information and decision making, while only one reported on educational and social empowerment.Discussion: Our findings suggest that digital literacy interventions such as mobile phones, mobile health tools, media exposure, access to the internet, internet-based educational strategies, social media exposure are effective to empower adolescent girls to access health services and information and also enhance the access to educational resources. However, we found inconclusive evidence on the effectiveness of digital literacy to enhance girls' access to financial services and economic empowerment. More rigorous studies with long-term follow-ups to assess the effectiveness of such interventions to empower adolescent girls in LMICs are urgently needed.

scholarly journals Health promotion at the workplace setting: a protocol for a systematic review of effectiveness and sustainability of current practice in low-income and middle-income countries

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. e027050
Author(s):  
Mary Njeri Wanjau ◽  
Belen Zapata-Diomedi ◽  
Lennert Veerman
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Workplace Health Promotion ◽  
The Body ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Workplace Setting

IntroductionLow-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are experiencing a growing disease burden due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Changing behavioural practices, such as diets high in saturated fat, salt and sugar and sedentary lifestyles, have been associated with the increase in NCDs. Health promotion at the workplace setting is considered effective in the fight against NCDs and has been reported to yield numerous benefits. However, there is a need to generate evidence on the effectiveness and sustainability of workplace health promotion practice specific to LMICs. We aim to synthesise the current literature on workplace health promotion in LMICs focusing on interventions effectiveness and sustainability.Methods and analysisWe will conduct a systematic review of published studies from LMICs up to 31 March 2019. We will search the following databases: EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest and CINAHL. Two reviewers will independently screen potential articles for inclusion and disagreements will be resolved by consensus. We will appraise the quality and risk of bias of included studies using two tools from the Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions. We will present a narrative overview and assessment of the body of evidence derived from the comprehensive review of the studies. The reported outcomes will be summarised by study design, duration, intensity/frequency of intervention delivery and by the six-priority health promotion action areas set out in the Ottawa Charter. We will conduct a thematic analysis to identify the focus areas of current interventions. This systematic review protocol has been prepared according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta- analyses for Protocols 2015 statement.Ethics and disseminationThis study does not require ethics approval. We will disseminate the results of this review through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.Trial registration numberCRD42018110853.

scholarly journals Psychosocial interventions for reducing depression among the elderly in low and middle income countries: A Systematic Review Protocol

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Mutambi Amanyire ◽  
Irene Aheisibwe ◽  
Godfrey Zari Rukundo
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Abstract Background: According to the World Health Organization, depression is expected to be the largest contributor to the global disease burden by 2030. Depression is the most frequent cause of emotional distress and reduced quality of life among older people affecting over 12% of the individuals aged 65 or older, . Psychosocial interventions have been proven to be effective in the management of depression. Most of the available evidence is from high income settings, with paucity of information in low and middle income countries which carry the biggest burden of depression and other health challenges. In this systematic review, we will document evidence on psychosocial interventions that have been effective in treatment of depression among elderly people in low and middle income countries. Methods: The review will be conducted and reported in accordance to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. We will include journal articles that have documented the psychosocial interventions in the primary prevention of depressive symptoms in elderly people aged 60 or older. We will also include accessible grey literature about the topic. We will include articles that have documented the psychosocial interventions to address depression in elderly patients in low and middle income countries. We will search different search engines and data bases including PubMed, EMBASE, Psych-INFO, Cochrane Library. We will use a meta-analysis, should we find that there is no heterogeneity between included studies.Discussion: This protocol describes a planned systematic review of observational studies reporting psychosocial interventions in the management of depressive symptoms in elderly people aged 60 or older. We anticipate that once this review is complete and published, our findings will be of interest to the elderly with depressive symptoms, their families and caregivers, students, and other healthcare professionals, scientists and policy makers. Systematic review registration: This protocol will not be registered with PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews since the system is no longer accepting new protocols.

Climate for Evidence-Informed Health Systems: A Profile of Systematic Review Production in 41 Low- and Middle-Income Countries, 1996-2008

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Law ◽  
John Lavis ◽  
Ali Hamandi ◽  
Andrew Cheung ◽  
Fadi El-Jardali
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Identification Procedure ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Explicit Mention ◽  
Second Period ◽  
Support Evidence

Objective To describe systematic review production in 41 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the eastern Mediterranean to understand one dimension of the climate for evidence-informed health systems and to provide a baseline for an evaluation of knowledge translation initiatives. Methods Our focus was systematic reviews published between 1996 and 2008 that had a corresponding author based in, or that appeared to target, one of the countries in these regions. We searched both Medline and Embase using validated search strategies, identified citations with a country name in the corresponding author's institutional affiliation or as a textword (i.e., an explicit mention in the title or abstract) or keyword, and coded articles describing a systematic review. We followed the same citation identification procedure for Health Systems Evidence, a database containing systematic reviews about health systems. Results Systematic review production increased between three-fold (for Africa in Medline) and 110-fold (for Asia in Embase) between the first period (1996-2002) and second period (2003-2008). In the second period, China was more often the home of corresponding authors and the target of reviews than any other country. No systematic reviews were produced by a corresponding author based in nine countries, or appeared to target five countries. Only 48 reviews identified through Medline and Embase addressed health systems, and 35 health systems reviews identified through Health Systems Evidence addressed these countries. Conclusion In many countries, those seeking to support evidence-informed health systems cannot turn to experienced local systematic reviewers to help them to find and use systematic reviews or to conduct reviews on high priority topics when none exists. These findings suggest the need for local capacity-building initiatives.

scholarly journals Missed nursing care in acute care hospital settings in low-middle income countries: a systematic review protocol

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 359
Author(s):  
Abdulazeez Imam ◽  
Sopuruchukwu Obiesie ◽  
Jalemba Aluvaala ◽  
Michuki Maina ◽  
David Gathara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Nursing Care ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low Middle Income Countries ◽  
Missed Nursing Care

Background:  Missed nursing care (care left undone or task incompletion) is viewed as an important early predictor of adverse patient care outcomes and is a useful indicator to determine the quality of patient care. Available systematic reviews on missed nursing care are based mainly on primary studies from developed countries, and there is limited evidence on missed nursing care from low-middle income countries (LMICs). We propose conducting a systematic review to identify the magnitude of missed nursing care and document factors and reasons associated with this phenomenon in LMIC settings. Methods and analysis:  This protocol was developed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P). We will conduct literature searching across the Ovid Medline, Embase and EBSCO Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases, from inception to 2021. Two independent reviewers will conduct searches and data abstraction, and discordance will be handled by discussion between both parties. The risk of bias of the individual studies will be determined using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Ethics and dissemination: Ethical permission is not required for this review as we will make use of already published data. We aim to publish the findings of our review in peer-reviewed journals PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021286897 (27th October 2021)

scholarly journals A systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of mental health literacy interventions implemented in schools and communities in low- and middle- income countries

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S271-S271
Author(s):  
Niamh McGuckin ◽  
Gerard Leavey
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Literacy ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Literacy Interventions ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Population Demographic

AimsMental health literacy campaigns have received increasing attention as a useful method of reducing the burden of mental disorders, by promoting public awareness and improving attitudes surrounding mental disorders. However, despite the wealth of research into the effectiveness of mental health literacy interventions in high-income countries, there is an absence of evaluations of these interventions in low-middle-income countries (LMICs). This systematic review aims to pool the evidence on effectiveness of these interventions in LMICs.MethodMEDLINE(OVID), PyschInfo, Scopus and reference lists of included studies were searched. Studies that quantitively measured the effectiveness of mental health literacy interventions amongst schools and communities in LMICs were included, regardless of study design. The included papers were not limited to a particular population demographic, ethnicity or educational level. Studies were included if conducted in LMICs according to the World Bank Classification. Each study was critically assessed according to CASP critical appraisal checklists.ResultTen studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, including 6 case series, 3 controlled before and after studies and 1 cross sectional study. Most of the studies claimed significant improvement of knowledge, attitudes and coping skills following the intervention. However, the overall the methodological quality of the studies was rated as fair to poor.ConclusionThe review found that mental health literacy interventions may have promising effects, however the pooled evidence of the effectiveness in LMICs was inconclusive. Further research into the effectiveness of these interventions would benefit from using a RCT design, or controlled-before and after studies, with careful control of confounding variables in order to further establish effect. This study provided insights into the barriers to effective implementation of these programs and examined the contextual appropriateness of such interventions. The review provides recommendations for policy makers for the development of future interventions.

scholarly journals The Dietary Intake and Practices of Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Nutrients ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Keats ◽  
Aviva Rappaport ◽  
Shailja Shah ◽  
Christina Oh ◽  
Reena Jain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Dietary Intake ◽  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Double Burden ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Mesh Terms ◽  
Low And Middle Income

In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) the double burden of malnutrition is high among adolescent girls, leading to poor health outcomes for the adolescent herself and sustained intergenerational effects. This underpins the importance of adequate dietary intake during this period of rapid biological development. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the current dietary intake and practices among adolescent girls (10–19 years) in LMICs. We searched relevant databases and grey literature using MeSH terms and keywords. After applying specified inclusion and exclusion criteria, 227 articles were selected for data extraction, synthesis, and quality assessment. Of the included studies, 59% were conducted in urban populations, 78% in school settings, and dietary measures and indicators were inconsistent. Mean energy intake was lower in rural settings (1621 ± 312 kcal/day) compared to urban settings (1906 ± 507 kcal/day). Self-reported daily consumption of nutritious foods was low; on average, 16% of girls consumed dairy, 46% consumed meats, 44% consumed fruits, and 37% consumed vegetables. In contrast, energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods, like sweet snacks, salty snacks, fast foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages, were consumed four to six times per week by an average of 63%, 78%, 23%, and 49% of adolescent girls, respectively. 40% of adolescent girls reported skipping breakfast. Along with highlighting the poor dietary habits of adolescent girls in LMIC, this review emphasizes the need for consistently measured and standardized indicators, and dietary intake data that are nationally representative.

scholarly journals Psychosocial Interventions for Reducing Depression Among the Elderly in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Systematic Review Protocol

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Mutambi Amanyire ◽  
Irene Aheisibwe ◽  
Godfrey Zari Rukundo
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Abstract Background: According to the World Health Organization, depression is expected to be the largest contributor to the global disease burden by 2030. Depression is the most frequent cause of emotional distress and reduced quality of life among older people affecting over 12% of the individuals aged 65 or older, . Psychosocial interventions have been proven to be effective in the management of depression. Most of the available evidence is from high income settings, with paucity of information in low and middle income countries which carry the biggest burden of depression and other health challenges. In this systematic review, we will document evidence on psychosocial interventions that have been effective in treatment of depression among elderly people in low and middle income countries. Methods: The review will be conducted and reported in accordance to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. We will include journal articles that have documented the psychosocial interventions in the primary prevention of depressive symptoms in elderly people aged 60 or older. We will also include accessible grey literature about the topic. We will include articles that have documented the psychosocial interventions to address depression in elderly patients in low and middle income countries. We will search different search engines and data bases including PubMed, EMBASE, Psych-INFO, Cochrane Library. We will use a meta-analysis, should we find that there is no heterogeneity between included studies.Discussion: This protocol describes a planned systematic review of observational studies reporting psychosocial interventions in the management of depressive symptoms in elderly people aged 60 or older. We anticipate that once this review is complete and published, our findings will be of interest to the elderly with depressive symptoms, their families and caregivers, students, and other healthcare professionals, scientists and policy makers.Systematic review registration: This protocol will not be registered with PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews since the system is no longer accepting new protocols.

scholarly journals Methodological rigor of prognostic models for predicting in-hospital paediatric mortality in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Morris Ogero ◽  
Rachel Sarguta ◽  
Lucas Malla ◽  
Jalemba Aluvaala ◽  
Ambrose Agweyu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
External Validation ◽  
Prognostic Models ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Healthcare Resources ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Methodological Rigor ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Introduction: In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where healthcare resources are often limited, making decisions on appropriate treatment choices is critical in ensuring reduction of paediatric deaths as well as instilling proper utilisation of the already constrained healthcare resources. Well-developed and validated prognostic models can aid in early recognition of potential risks thus contributing to the reduction of mortality rates. The aim of the planned systematic review is to identify and appraise the methodological rigor of multivariable prognostic models predicting in-hospital paediatric mortality in LMIC in order to identify statistical and methodological shortcomings deserving special attention and to identify models for external validation. Methods and analysis: This protocol has followed the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols. A search of articles will be conducted in MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and CINAHL (via EbscoHost) from inception to 2019 without any language restriction. We will also perform a search in Web of Science to identify additional reports that cite the identified studies. Data will be extracted from relevant articles in accordance with the Cochrane Prognosis Methods’ guidance; the CHecklist for critical Appraisal and data extraction for systematic Reviews of prediction Modelling Studies. Methodological quality assessment will be performed based on prespecified domains of the Prediction study Risk of Bias Assessment Tool. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical permission will not be required as this study will use published data. Findings from this review will be shared through publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals and, presented at conferences. It is our hope that this study will contribute to the development of robust multivariable prognostic models predicting in-hospital paediatric mortality in low- and middle-income countries. Registration: PROSPERO ID CRD42018088599; registered on 13 February 2018.

scholarly journals Abortion decision-making trajectories and factors influencing such trajectories in low- and middle-income countries: a protocol for mixed-methods systematic review

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. e049507
Author(s):  
Paul Lokubal ◽  
Sandrena Ruth Frischer ◽  
Ines Corcuera ◽  
Jessica Macias Balil ◽  
Christine Nalwadda Kayemba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Assessment And Evaluation ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Low And Middle Income

IntroductionGlobally, about half of all pregnancies are unintended and/or unwanted and three-fifths of these end in induced abortion. When faced with a choice to terminate pregnancy, women’s abortion decision-making processes are often complex and multiphasic and maybe amplified in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) which bear the major burden of abortion-related morbidity and mortality. Our review aims to (1) describe abortion decision-making trajectories for women in LMICs and (2) investigate factors influencing the choice of abortion decision-making trajectories in LMICs.Methods and analysisWe will search and retrieve published and unpublished qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods, community and/or hospital-based studies conducted in LMICs from 1 January 2000 up to 16 February 2021. We will search Ovid Medline, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycInfo, Ovid Global Health, Web of Science (including Social Science Citation Index), Scopus, IBSS, CINAHL via EBSCO, WHO Global Index Medicus, the Cochrane Library, WHO website, ProQuest and Google Scholar. We will search reference lists of eligible studies and contact experts for additional data/information, if required. We will extract all relevant data to answer our research questions and assess study quality using the appropriate appraisal tools. Depending on the extracted data, our analysis will use sequential or convergent synthesis methods proposed by Hong et al. For qualitative studies, we will synthesise evidence using thematic synthesis, meta-ethnography or ‘best-fit’ framework synthesis; and for quantitative findings, we will provide a narrative synthesis and/or meta-analysis. We will do sensitivity analyses and assess confidence in our findings using Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, and Evaluation –Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research (GRADE-CERQUal) for qualitative findings and Grades of Recommednation, Assessment, and Evaluation (GRADE) for quantitative findings.Ethics and disseminationWe did not require ethics approval for this systematic review. We will publish our findings in an open-access peer-reviewed journal with global and maternal health readership. We will also present our findings at national and international scientific conferences.

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