Parent-adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues and its associated factors in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Every year, 1.3 million young people reported to die from preventable causes of death. Parent-adolescent communication on sexuality is critical in informing youth about risk and protective behaviors which in turn decrease the likelihood of involvement in risky sexual behaviors. This systematic review and meta-analysis was intended to assess the prevalence of parent-adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues and its associated factors in Ethiopia.

Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, HINARI, Google Scholar, and University repositories were used to search studies. Article search was conducted from May 20 to June 9, 2020. Critical appraisal of studies was conducted using Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS). Data analysis was conducted using Stata 11 software following the abstraction of data using a format prepared on Microsoft excel. The heterogeneity of studies was tested using Cochran (Q test) and I² test statistics. Similarly, funnel plot and Egger's regression asymmetry were used to assess publication bias. Subgroup analysis was conducted based on study Regions and sample size.

Result: Fourteen studies with sample of 8018 adolescents were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of parent-adolescent communication on SRH issues in Ethiopia was found to be 45.18% (95%, CI, 32.23, 58.13%). Adolescents' knowledge of reproductive health matters (OR = 2.91, 95% CI:1.21, 7.01), believe on importance of discussion on SRH issues (OR = 4.18, 95% CI: 2.63, 6.65), had history of sexual exposure (OR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.53, 2.50), parents openness to discuss SRH issues (OR = 3.39, 95% CI: (2.48, 4.62), and being female (OR = 1.60, 95% CI:1.07, 2.38) were the positive predictors of parent-adolescent communications on SRH issues.

Conclusion: The prevalence of parent-adolescent communication on SRH issues was found to be low. Knowledge of adolescents about reproductive health matters, believe on the importance of discussion on reproductive health issues, history of sexual exposure, parents' openness to discuss SRH issues, and being female were found to be the positive predictors of parent-adolescent communication on SRH issues in Ethiopia. The finding our study indicated that evidence based education about reproductive health matters could significant to improve adolescent parent communication on SRH issues.

Keywords: Meta-analysis; Parent-adolescent communication; Prevalence; SRH; Systematic review.

Fig. 1

PRISMA flow chart revealing study selection for systematic review and meta-analysis of parent-adolescent communication in Ethiopia

Fig. 2

Forest plot of the pooled prevalence of parent-adolescent communication on SRH issues in Ethiopia

Fig. 3

Subgroup analysis of pooled prevalence of parent-adolescent communications on SRH issues based on study Region

Fig. 4

Subgroup analysis of pooled prevalence of parent-adolescent communications on SRH issues based on study Region

Fig. 5

Funnel plot for assessing publication bias of the prevalence of parent-adolescent communication on SRH issues in Ethiopia

Fig. 6

Forest plot of the association between knowledge of reproductive health issues and parent-adolescent communication in Ethiopia

Fig. 7

Forest plot of the association between beleif on the importance of discussion on SRH issues and parent-adolescent communication in Ethiopia

Fig. 8

Forest plot of the association between history of sexual intercourse and parent-adolescent communication on SRH issues in Ethiopia

Fig. 9

Forest plot showing the association between parents’ oppenness and parent-adolescent communication on SRH issues

Fig. 10

Forest plot of the association between female sex and pareant-adolescent communication on SRH issues