Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30482103›Full record

SynthesisGlobal health action2018

A systematic review of the use of adolescent mystery clients in assessing the adolescent friendliness of health services in high, middle, and low-income countries.

Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli, Cosima Lenz, Emmanuel Adebayo, Iliana Lang Lundgren, Lucia Gomez Garbero, Subidita Chatteriee

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Global health action, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.8field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Adolescents' perspectives and experiences of accessing general practitioner services: A systematic review.Journal of child health care : for professionals working with children in the hospital and community · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.

Venkatraman Chandra-Moulia Department of Reproductive Health and Research, Human Reproduction Programme , World Health Organization , Geneva , Switzerland.
Cosima Lenzb UCLA Fielding School of Public Health , Los Angeles , USA.
Emmanuel Adebayoc Adolescent Health Unit, Institute of Child Health , University of Ibadan , Ibadan , Nigeria.ORCID 0000-0002-9148-4236
Iliana Lang Lundgrend Department of Health Policy and Management , Globa lGiving Foundation, Georgetown University - Women's and Gender Studies.
Lucia Gomez Garberoe School of Psychology , Universidad Catolica del Uruguay.
Subidita Chatterieef Independent expert , Kolkata , India.
Georgetown University · USUniversidad Católica del Uruguay · UYUniversity of Ibadan · NGWorld Health Organization · CH

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMystery client methodology is a form of participatory research that provides a unique opportunity to monitor and evaluate the performance of health care providers or health facilities from the perspective of the service user. However, there are no systematic reviews that analyse the use of mystery clients in adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) research and monitoring and evaluation of programmes.

objectiveTo assess the use of adolescent mystery clients in examining health care provider and facility performance in providing ASRH services in high, middle, and low-income countries.

methodsWe carried out a systematic review of published journal articles and reports from the grey literature on this topic from 2000 to 2017 (inclusive). Thirty research evaluations/studies were identified and included in the analysis. We identified common themes through thematic analysis.

resultsThe findings reveal that researchers and evaluators used mystery client methodology to observe client-provider relationships, and to reduce observation bias, in government or private health facilities, NGOs, and pharmacies. The mystery clients in the evaluations/studies were young people who played varying roles; in most cases, they were trained for these roles. Most reported good experiences and friendly providers; however, some reported lack of privacy and confidentiality, lack of sufficient written/verbal information, and unfavourable experiences such as sexual harassment and judgmental comments. Female mystery clients were more likely than males to report unfavourable experiences. Generally, the methodology was considered useful in monitoring and evaluating the attitudes of health service providers and ASRH service provision.

conclusionsThe research evaluations/studies in this review highlight the usefulness of mystery clients as a method to gain insight, from an adolescent perspective, on the quality of ASRH services for research and monitoring and evaluation of programmes.

Indexed as

Attitude of Health PersonnelPatient SimulationAdolescentConfidentialityDelivery of Health CareFemaleHealth Services ResearchHumansMaleSex Factorsadolescent sexual and reproductive healthparticipatory research methodsYouth friendly services

Identifiers

PMID30482103
PMCPMC6282470
OpenAlexW2903372175

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.