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

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. I2 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.