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Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Jul 23;16(7):e0254935.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254935. eCollection 2021.

Mothers' utilization and associated factors of preconception care in Africa, a systematic review and meta-analysis

Tiwabwork Tekalign  1 , Tesfanesh Lemma  2 , Mulualem Silesh  2 , Eyasu Alem Lake  1 , Mistire Teshome  1 , Tesfaye Yitna  1 , Nefsu Awoke  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Mothers' utilization and associated factors of preconception care in Africa, a systematic review and meta-analysis

Tiwabwork Tekalign et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: As the studies show, in every minute in the world, 380 women become pregnant and 190 face unplanned or unwanted pregnancies; 110 experience pregnancy-related complications, and one woman dies from a pregnancy-related cause. Preconception care is one of the proven strategies for the reduction in mortality and decreases the risk of adverse health effects for the woman, fetus, and neonate by optimizing maternal health services and improves woman's health. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of utilization of preconception of care and associated factors in Africa.

Methods: Systematic search of published studies done on PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science CINAHL, and manually on Google Scholar. This meta-analysis follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The quality of studies was assessed by the modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Meta-analysis was carried out using a random-effects method using the STATA™ Version 14 software.

Result: From 249,301 obtained studies, 28 studies from 3 African regions involving 13067 women included in this Meta-analysis. The overall pooled prevalence of utilization of preconception care among pregnant women in Africa was found to be 18.72% (95% CI: 14.44, 23.00). Knowledge of preconception care (P = <0.001), preexisting medical condition (P = 0.045), and pregnancy intention (P = 0.016) were significantly associated with the utilization of preconception care.

Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis indicated, as one of best approaches to improve birth outcomes, the utilization of preconception care is significantly low among mothers in Africa. Therefore, health care organizations should work on strategies to improve preconception care utilization.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declared they had no competing interests.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. PRISMA flow diagram of study selection.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Forest plot showing pooled prevalence of utilization of preconception care among women in Africa.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Subgroup analysis of utilization of preconception care among mother by country in Africa.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Funnel plot to test the publication bias in 28 studies with 95% confidence limits.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Sensitivity analysis of pooled prevalence for each study being removed one at a time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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