Exploring Prevalence and Determinants of Uptake of Postnatal Care Utilisation among Adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review Protocol

Introduction: About 100 in every 1000 female adolescents gives birth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing expose them to several health complications and social and developmental challenges. World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended that mothers and their babies receive postnatal care (PNC) services to improve their health status. Empirical evidence from SSA indicates low utilisation of PNC services below 70%. A review of the prevalence and predictors of uptake of PNC utilisation by adolescents in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) is scarce. Objective: The main aim of this review is to synthesize available evidence on the prevalence and determinants of Uptake of PNC utilisation among adolescents in SSA. Inclusion criteria: Primary studies published in the English language within SSA, reported on PNC utilisation among adolescents from SSA shall be included in this review. Methods: The review shall be guided by the Prefered Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA-ScR) and JBI methodology for scoping reviews. PubMed, Embase, Medline, Scopus, EBSCOhost (Public Health Database, Research Library Health & Medicine, Research Library Social Sciences, and APA PsychInfo), and Google Scholar shall be the main databases used. Data extraction shall be done by two persons with the aid of an extraction form. Results will be presented in tables accompanied by text to explain them.