Parent-young communication on sexual and reproductive health issues and its association with sex and perceptions of young people in Ethiopia, 2020: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background There is no national representative and conclusive data regarding parent-young communication. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of parent-young communication on sexual and reproductive health issues and its association with sex and perceptions of young people about its importance in Ethiopia, 2020. Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) was used during systematic review and meta-analysis. The study included both published and gray literatures which were searched using appropriate key terms. The articles were searched from different databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Global Health, HINARI and Google scholar. Data were extracted in a Microsoft Excel sheet and STATA/SE 14 was used for meta-analysis. I 2 and Egger test statistics were used to test heterogeneity and publication bias respectively. Results Twenty-nine articles were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of parent-young communication on sexual and reproductive health issues in Ethiopia was 42.96% 95% CI: (36.91, 49.02). Positive perception of young people towards parent-young communication AOR = 3.72, 95% CI: (2.87, 4.86) and female sex AOR = 1.62, 95% CI: (1.12, 2.34) were significantly associated with parent-young communication on sexual and reproductive health issues. Conclusions The prevalence of parent-young communication on sexual and reproductive health issues in Ethiopia was low as compared to other literatures conducted outside Ethiopia. Both perceptions of young people towards parent-young communication and sex were significantly associated with parent-young communication on sexual and reproductive health issues. Interventions targeting males and young who had negative perceptions regarding parent-young communication should be the primary focus of the government and their parents. Review registration The protocol of this systematic review and meta-analysis was registered in the PROSPERO International prospective of systematic reviews with a specific registration number: CRD42020161252 .