Page 30 - IJPS-10-1

International Journal of
Population Studies SRH services among young people during COVID-19

2.3. Study domain 2021; Mutea et al., 2020) encountered by both adolescents

This review focuses on assessing the impact of COVID-19 and health providers. Additionally, the studies delved into
on the demand and supply of SRH services among AYA the dynamics of access to and utilization of these services
(Binezero Mambo et al., 2021).
in SSA countries. The study was restricted to articles that
sourced their data within the timeframe of January 2020 to In the included studies, three employed a qualitative
December 2021. study design, three used mixed methods, and four used
a quantitative design. The study settings varied, with one
2.4. Data charting publication centered on Francophone countries (Mongbo
Two reviewers used a data sheet specifically developed et al., 2021), three in Nigeria (Adelekan et al., 2021; Odo
by the authors to systematically extract data from the et al., 2021; Wusu, 2020), one in South Africa (Bolarinwa,
included articles following a thorough screening. The 2020), two in Kenya (Decker et al., 2021; Mutea et al., 2020),
extracted data encompassed the following information one in Uganda (Binezero Mambo et al., 2021), and two in
from each included study: author and year of publication, Ethiopia (Hailemariam et al., 2021; Tilahun et al., 2021).
study setting (country), study aim, study design, study Eight of the studies focused on the access of AYA
population, key findings, and implications or conclusions to SRH services while the remaining two focused on
drawn. The results were categorized into three main challenges faced by health facilities and proposed solutions
domains: factors contributing to the discrepancies in to enhance SRH access during potential future health
demand and supply of SRH services, strategies adopted emergencies. The majority of the articles mentioned SRH,
to mitigate the impact of the demand-supply gap, and with the rest specifically concentrating on family planning
approaches to build resilience in the supply chain of SRH or contraception. The Francophone study enumerated
services in SSA. For a comprehensive understanding of the one of the challenges faced by health workers during
data collection process, please refer to Appendices 1 and 2. the pandemic: limited knowledge on how to manage
Appendix 1 provides the search string employed for coronavirus while incorporating SRH service (Mongbo
data collection, while Appendix 2 outlines the search et al., 2021). This finding was corroborated by a study from
terms used and the results obtained from the ProQuest Nigeria, highlighting issues such as stock-outs of essential
databases. commodities such as drugs and contraceptives (Adelekan

3. Results et al., 2021). In terms of SRH, all included studies explored
both demand and supply aspects of essential services
The exploration of databases yielded a total of 1,062 and commodities, including contraception, menstrual
publications. The utilization of the Covidence platform hygiene, and management of STIs. Additionally, two
(Covidence) significantly facilitated the identification studies investigated social-interactional barriers related to
of duplicates and the systematic screening of abstracts SRH services, including socio-cultural influences, lack of
and full-text articles. To ensure a robust evaluation, a privacy, and health provider attitudes (Hailemariam et al.,
third reviewer was engaged to resolve any discrepancies 2021; Mutea et al., 2020).
that arose between the initial two reviewers before the
conclusive inclusion of studies. The screening process of 3.2. Factors responsible for the discrepancies in the
the articles is visually depicted in Figure 1. demand for and supply of SRH services
In the studies included in this review, several factors
3.1. Characteristics of the included studies were identified as responsible for the discrepancy in
Table 1 provides an overview of the characteristics of the demand for SRH services and the corresponding supply.
10 studies included in this scoping review, all of which Sociodemographic and psychocultural factors, including
gathered data within the timeframe of 2020 – 2021 gender, age, education status, income level, and living status,
[Figure 2]. Among these studies, one conducted a survey were identified as predictors of AYA demand for SRH services
across 9 Francophone countries in West Africa (Mongbo et (Odo et al., 2021). Client utilization of services, especially
al., 2021), while the rest were domiciled in Nigeria, South among young people, witnessed a notable reduction. The
Africa, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia (Binezero Mambo et uncertainty about the availability of SRH services in health
al., 2021; Decker et al., 2021). The central theme in all the facilities, exacerbated by the pandemic, contributed to this
included studies was the investigation into the repercussions decline. Studies from Ethiopia highlighted various factors
of the COVID-19 pandemic on the SRH of AYA (Adelekan influencing the utilization of SRH services, including
et al., 2021), encompassing an examination of service the adolescents’ age, a history of sexual intercourse, the
delivery as well as various challenges (Hailemariam et al., availability of health services, and awareness of SRH services

Volume 10 Issue 1 (2024) 24 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.366