Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Mar 19;20(3):e0319972.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319972. eCollection 2025.

Pelvic floor disorders and associated factors among women in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Atoma Negera  1 , Midekso Sento  2 , Geleta Nenko  3 , Gamachis Firdisa  4 , Jira Waqoya  5   6 , Samuel Negera  7 , Bilisumamulifna Tefera  8
Affiliations

Pelvic floor disorders and associated factors among women in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Atoma Negera et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) are a group of conditions caused by injured or weakened pelvic muscles, ligaments, connective tissues, and nerves that support or hold pelvic organs in place so they can function correctly. Common PFDs are pelvic organ prolapse (POP), urinary incontinence (UI), and faecal incontinence (FI). A preliminary search on the subject within the last decade identified no review protocol or systematic review, despite a significant percentage of women in SSA suffering from it.

Methods and analysis: A comprehensive literature search will be gathered from electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, Hinari, Cochrane Library, African Journals Online (AJOL), and Google Scholar. The protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses for Protocol (PRISMA-P) guideline. All studies conducted in sub-Saharan African countries will be included regardless of their study design as long as these studies report the magnitude of the problem under study. Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) appraisal checklist will be used to assess the quality of individual studies. Heterogeneity will be checked using Cochrane Q test statistics and I2 test statistics, and a random-effects model will be employed to estimate the pooled prevalence of PFDs and its associated factors.

Results: The present study will estimate the pooled prevalence of pelvic floor disorders and their associated factors in sub-Saharan Africa countries.

Systematic review registration: This review was registered on PROSPERO with registration number CRD42024578550.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Bump RC, Norton PA. Epidemiology and natural history of pelvic floor dysfunction. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am. 1998;25(4):723–46. doi: 10.1016/s0889-8545(05)70039-5 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dieter AA, Wilkins MF, Wu JM. Epidemiological trends and future care needs for pelvic floor disorders. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2015;27(5):380–4. doi: 10.1097/GCO.0000000000000200 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wu JM, Vaughan CP, Goode PS, Redden DT, Burgio KL, Richter HE, et al.. Prevalence and trends of symptomatic pelvic floor disorders in U.S. women. Obstet Gynecol. 2014;123(1):141–8. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000000057 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Luber KM, Boero S, Choe JY. The demographics of pelvic floor disorders: current observations and future projections. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 2001;184(7):1496–1503. - PubMed
    1. Gunasekera P, Sazaki J, Walker G. Pelvic organ prolapse: don’t forget developing countries. Lancet. 2007;369(9575):1789–90. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60814-9 - DOI - PubMed