Availability, acceptability and uptake of Sexual Reproductive Health interventions for young people with disabilities in Sub Saharan Africa: A scoping review protocol

Abstract

Introduction: Young people with disabilities face major barriers in accessing sexual reproductive health (SRH) services in resource-poor settings, including Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Although, there is increasing recognition of their unique SRH needs, the availability, acceptability, and uptake of SRH service delivery interventions for this population group remain understudied. Young people with disabilities encounter barriers to accessing SRH services due to stigma, poverty, lack of information and physical barriers. We aim to map existing literature on SRH service delivery interventions targeting young people with disabilities in SSA through a scoping review.

Methods and analysis: The scoping review will be guided by the Arksey and O'Malley methodological framework. Articles will be searched in PubMed, African Index Medicus, Google Scholar, African Journals Online, Web of Science and Embase electronic databases as well as grey literature database, Open Grey. We will also do a citation search of references of eligible papers for literature that may have been overlooked in other searches. A two-step process will be used to screen retrieved articles i) title and abstract screening ii) full text screening. Results of the scoping review will be reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-P) extension for scoping reviews.

Discussion: There is a paucity of knowledge on availability, acceptability and uptake of SRH service delivery interventions for young people with disabilities in SSA. This scoping review is poised to fill the gap by demonstrating the breadth of literature on availability, acceptability and uptake of SRH service delivery interventions for young people with disabilities The scoping review aims to map the availability of SRH service delivery interventions for young people with disabilities. This mapping of evidence has the potential to identify whether there is a need for SRH service delivery interventions for young people with disabilities. Our scoping review will map which SRH service delivery interventions work or do not work, as well as gaps in SRH service delivery interventions for young people with disabilities. This information is useful for policy making and for designing effective SRH service delivery interventions for young people with disabilities.