Mapping the Reproductive Health Communication Landscape: A State-of-the-art Review

Abstract

Background: Reproductive health communication encompasses family planning, maternal, neonatal and child health, and sexual and  reproductive health communications for adolescents and youth as fundamental elements for intervention. The objective of this study was to summarize, examine, and identify gaps in the theoretical, methodological, empirical, and measurement literature on reproductive health communication as it relates to Ethiopia.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted using electronic databases such as the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLINE), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Psychological Information (PsychINFO), and Google Scholar to locate theoretic, psychometric, and empirical literature on reproductive health communication.

Results: Local literature identified by the databases were mainly based on crosssectional designs, had small sample size and lacked essential psychometric protocols. Results showed that most studies replicatively focused on spousal communication centering  reproductive choices and decisions. A common strategy was to use student populations as data sources limiting the generalizability of findings.

Conclusion: The need for more diverse designs and areas of investigation using better instrumentation is indicated.

Keywords: communication, reproductive, family planning, child, spouse, health