Stated preferences of adolescents and young adults for sexual and reproductive health services in Africa: a systematic review

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorAlemu, M.B.
dc.contributor.authorNorman, R.
dc.contributor.authorDantas, J.
dc.contributor.authorBelay, D.G.
dc.contributor.authorHaile, T.G.
dc.contributor.authorPereira, G.
dc.contributor.authorTessema, G.A.
dc.date.issued2025
dc.descriptionPublished online: 01 Aug 2025
dc.description.abstractAdolescents and young adults (AYAs) constitute approximately 30% of the African population and face significant challenges in accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Low service uptake, despite availability, may indicate service provision misalignment with AYAs’ preferences. This reflects the health sector gap and will partly compromise AYAs’ rights. This study synthesised stated preference studies on SRH services among AYAs in Africa, following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Searches were conducted across six databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus and Global Health) and Google Scholar for grey literature on 24 April 2024. The attributes used to measure SRH preferences were classified based on the Donabedian quality of healthcare framework. A risk of bias assessment was conducted to evaluate the quality of included studies. The review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023386944). From 8,329 identified records, 16 studies with 8,005 participants from six countries were included in the final analysis. The attributes used were related to the structural (44.3%), process (41.7%) and outcome-related (13.9%) dimensions. The most important attributes were the cost of services, effectiveness of treatment and treatment frequency. Conversely, the least important attributes were treatment side effects, treatment and medical test sample collection characteristics, provider characteristics (age, gender and profession), and incentive type and recipient. In conclusion, AYAs’ preferences were mainly influenced by cost, treatment effectiveness and incentive distribution methods. Policymakers need to develop affordable and effective SRH programmes with tailored incentives to align with AYAs’ preferences to improve service uptake. However, these insights reflect data from a limited range of African countries.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityMelaku Birhanu Alemu, Richard Norman, Jaya Dantas, Daniel Gashaneh Belay, Tsegaye G. Haile, Gavin Pereira, Gizachew A. Tessema
dc.identifier.citationSexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 2025; 33(1):2520682-1-2520682-22
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/26410397.2025.2520682
dc.identifier.issn2641-0397
dc.identifier.issn2641-0397
dc.identifier.orcidTessema, G.A. [0000-0002-4784-8151]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/147851
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherTaylor & Francis Group
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1099655
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1173991
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1195716
dc.rights© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2025.2520682
dc.subjectsexual and reproductive health; SRH; stated preferences; preferences; discrete choice experiments; adolescents and young adults; young people; youth; Africa
dc.subject.meshHumans
dc.subject.meshAdolescent
dc.subject.meshReproductive Health Services
dc.subject.meshHealth Services Accessibility
dc.subject.meshAfrica
dc.subject.meshFemale
dc.subject.meshMale
dc.subject.meshYoung Adult
dc.subject.meshPatient Preference
dc.subject.meshSexual Health
dc.titleStated preferences of adolescents and young adults for sexual and reproductive health services in Africa: a systematic review
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished online

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
hdl_147851.pdf
Size:
1.49 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published version
Download

Collections

Research Outputs