SynthesisBMJ sexual & reproductive health2024
Use of contraceptives, empowerment and agency of adolescent girls and young women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMJ sexual & reproductive health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluating the effects of a multi-level intervention on young women's contraceptive use: sexual and reproductive health results of a cluster-randomised factorial-design study in Tshwane, South Africa.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2025Trial
- Article
- Association of over-the-counter birth control pill use and contraceptive autonomy among oral contraceptive users.Contraception · 2026Article
- Adaptation, acceptability and preliminary impacts of a sexual health and financial literacy intervention for indigenous adolescents in Ecuador: A mixed-methods pilot study.Public health · 2026Article
- Examining fertility preferences and spousal communication on contraceptive uptake among postpartum mothers in selected facilities in Abuja, Nigeria.Contraception and reproductive medicine · 2026Article
- Postpartum integration of infant vaccines and contraception through gender transformative programming: A cluster randomized trial in India.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Associations between water insecurity and reproductive health outcomes among adolescent girls and young women in Sub-Saharan Africa.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal analysis of contraceptive deserts and adolescent fertility clusters in South Asia: A spatial econometric approach to breaking intergenerational poverty cycles.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Contraception to women's economic empowerment: A narrative review.World development · 2025Review
- Adolescent Girls' Agency in an Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment Intervention Pilot.Journal of adolescence · 2025Article
- Determinants of contraceptive use and intention to use among youth 15-24 years from a remote pastoral community in Northeastern, Uganda.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Evaluation of the SKILLZ intervention to promote HIV testing and contraception uptake in adolescent girls in Lusaka, Zambia: A cluster-randomized trial.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Examining the relationship between reproductive empowerment and contraceptive self-injection: Tackling the endogeneity problem.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Stages and future of women's health: A call for a life-course approach.Women's health (London, England)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionThe evidence on adolescent empowerment, which involves access to personal and material resources for reproductive autonomy and economic equity, is limited. This systematic review assesses the use of contraceptives in empowering and strengthening the agency and vice versa among adolescents and young women.
methodsWe ran the searches in six electronic databases: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), The Campbell Library, MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Web of Science. The methodological quality of studies was assessed using ROBINS-I and ROB-II tools as appropriate. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.4.
resultsForty studies that assessed the impact of empowerment on contraceptive use were included. Of these, 14 were non-randomised studies for intervention (NRSIs), and the remaining 26 were randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The results from RCTs show a significant effect of the sexual and reproductive health empowerment in increasing ever use of contraception (RR 1.22; 95% CI 1.02, 1.45; n=9; I²=77%; GRADE: Very Low), and insignificant effect on unprotected sex (RR 0.97; 95% CI 0.74, 1.26; n=5; I²=86%; GRADE: Very Low) and adolescent pregnancy (RR 1.07; 95% CI 0.61, 1.87; n=3; I²=36%; GRADE: Very Low). None of the studies assessed impact of contraceptive use on empowerment.
conclusionsEmpowerment of adolescents and young women certainly improves contraceptive use in the immediate or short-term period. However, more robust studies with low risk of bias, longer-term outcomes, and impact of contraceptive use on empowerment and agency-strengthening are required. To increase contraceptive use uptake, tailored policies and delivery platforms are necessary for youth in low- and middle-income countries.
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Registered trials
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.