Department of Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Mar 27;23(1):564. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-14716-2.
No study appraised the knowledge gaps and factors impacting men's sexual and reproductive health (SRH) in MENA (Middle East and North Africa). The current scoping review undertook this task.
We searched PubMed and Web of Science (WoS) electronic databases for original articles on men's SRH published from MENA. Data was extracted from the selected articles and mapped out employing the WHO framework for operationalising SRH. Analyses and data synthesis identified the factors impacting on men's experiences of and access to SRH.
A total of 98 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. The majority of studies focused on HIV and other sexually transmissible infections (67%); followed by comprehensive education and information (10%); contraception counselling/provision (9%); sexual function and psychosexual counselling (5%); fertility care (8%); and gender-based violence prevention, support/care (1%). There were no studies on antenatal/intrapartum/postnatal care and on safe abortion care (0% for both). Conceptually, there was lack of knowledge of the different domains of men's SRH, with negative attitudes, and many misconceptions; as well as a deficiency of health system policies, strategies and interventions for SRH.
Men's SRH is not sufficiently prioritized. We observed five 'paradoxes': strong focus on HIV/AIDS, when MENA has low prevalence of HIV; weak focus on both fertility and sexual dysfunctions, despite their high prevalence in MENA; no publications on men's involvement in sexual gender-based violence, despite its frequency across MENA; no studies of men's involvement in antenatal/intrapartum/postnatal care, despite the international literature valuing such involvement; and, many studies identifying lack of SRH knowledge, but no publications on policies and strategies addressing such shortcoming. These 'mismatches' suggest the necessity for efforts to enhance the education of the general population and healthcare workers, as well as improvements across MENA health systems, with future research examining their effects on men's SRH.
目前尚无研究评估中东和北非（MENA）地区男性性与生殖健康（SRH）的知识差距和影响因素。本研究旨在对 MENA 地区男性 SRH 相关研究进行综述，以填补这一空白。
我们检索了 PubMed 和 Web of Science（WoS）电子数据库中有关 MENA 地区男性 SRH 的原始文章。从选定的文章中提取数据，并利用世卫组织实施 SRH 的框架进行映射。分析和数据综合确定了影响男性 SRH 体验和获取的因素。
共有 98 篇文章符合纳入标准并纳入分析。大多数研究集中在 HIV 和其他性传播感染（67%）；其次是综合教育和信息（10%）；避孕咨询/提供（9%）；性功能和性心理咨询（5%）；生育保健（8%）；以及预防、支持/护理性别暴力（各占 1%）。没有关于产前/产时/产后护理和安全堕胎护理的研究（两者均为 0%）。从概念上讲，男性 SRH 的不同领域知识不足，存在负面态度和许多误解；以及 SRH 方面的卫生系统政策、战略和干预措施不足。
男性 SRH 没有得到足够的重视。我们观察到五个“悖论”：尽管 MENA 地区 HIV 流行率较低，但对 HIV/AIDS 的关注度很高；尽管 MENA 地区生育率和性功能障碍的发病率较高，但对这两个方面的关注度都较低；尽管 MENA 地区普遍存在性别暴力，但没有关于男性参与性别的出版物；尽管国际文献重视男性参与产前/产时/产后护理，但没有关于男性参与的研究；以及，许多研究表明缺乏 SRH 知识，但没有关于解决这一不足的政策和战略的出版物。这些“不匹配”表明，需要努力加强普通人群和医疗保健工作者的教育，以及改善整个 MENA 地区的卫生系统，未来的研究将考察这些努力对男性 SRH 的影响。
