Mapping evidence on predictors of adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes among young women in South Africa: A scoping review.

Obasanjo A. Bolarinwa,Tlou Boikhutso

doi:10.4102/phcfm.v13i1.3091

Abstract

BackgroundGlobally, most young women have an unmet need for sexual and reproductive health (SRH), which remains a public health concern. Identifying the predictors can help reduce this challenge.AimThis scoping review maps evidence on predictors of adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes among young women in South Africa.MethodAskey and O’Malley’s framework guided this review. We searched five databases from January 2000 to December 2020 using relevant keywords, Boolean terms and medical subject heading terms. All relevant extracted data were organised into the study themes, and summary of all the findings were reported in a narrative format.ResultsNine studies met the inclusion criteria out of 1219 studies identified. Four out of the nine studies were national-based studies, while the remaining five studies were conducted in Western Cape (two), Eastern Cape (two) and KwaZulu-Natal (one). Out of the nine studies included, three reported predictors of unintended pregnancy, while six reported predictors of sexually transmitted infections and HIV among young women in South Africa. The most prevailing predictors of adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes were gender-based violence and alcohol use, while other predictors were lower socio-economic status, place of residence, multiple sexual partnerships, low education and being between the ages of 20–24 years.ConclusionWe conclude that gender-based violence and alcohol abuse are the most prevailing predictors of adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes among young women in South Africa.

Highlights

Most young women have an unmet need for sexual and reproductive health (SRH), which remains a public health concern
Our study reported that the use of condoms during sexual intercourse in the last 5-year was reported as a predictor of HIV,[38] young South African women whose population group were black, those who have been reporting unusual vaginal discharge in the past 12 months, those residing in the urban area, those with lower educational attainment, being sexually active, having multiple sexual partners, those involved in condomless sexual intercourse[40] and young women between the age of 20–24 years were more likely to report having HIV.[39]
We identified involving in condomless sexual intercourse as a predictor of reporting being HIVpositive among young women in South Africa; a study conducted in Malawi opposed this finding as the study reported that there is no significant relationship between condom use during sex and being HIV-positive,[60] while another study conducted in Uganda supported our findings that condom use during sexual intercourse reduces the http://www.phcfm.org likelihood of being HIV-positive.[61]

Summary

Introduction

Most young women have an unmet need for sexual and reproductive health (SRH), which remains a public health concern. The majority of young women have an unmet need for sexual and reproductive health, which remains a public health concern.[1,2,3] While barriers in accessing sexual and reproductive health services have been reported as the major risk factor in not meeting young women’s sexual and reproductive health needs,[4,5] limited access to sexual and reproductive health services and other sexual and reproductive health risk factors such as low knowledge of sexual and reproductive health service and low educational attainment have been linked to adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes among young women.[6,7,8]. Non-utilisation of condoms during most recent sexual intercourse and multiple sexual partners has been reported as major risk factors driving the high prevalence of STIs/HIV in SSA.[17,18,19] http://www.phcfm.org

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