Nyamwanza Owen, Kabonga Itai, Mashanyare Tapson
CeSHHAR Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
CeSHHAR Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
BMJ Open. 2025 Aug 22;15(8):e100302. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-100302.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) pose a huge public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, where prevalence rates are among the highest globally. Barriers such as limited healthcare access, stigma and inadequate diagnostic facilities impede timely detection and treatment. Self-sampling for STI testing offers a potential solution to these challenges. This scoping review will systematically map the available evidence on self-sampling for STIs in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on its feasibility, acceptability, implementation and outcomes.
The scoping review will be guided by the Arksey and O'Malley framework. The review will include a comprehensive search of peer-reviewed and grey literature from various repositories and databases. The following databases will be searched: PubMed, Scopus and Global Health. Studies that will be included will meet specific criteria. The results of the review will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols checklist.
The methodology used for this study is a scoping review of existing literature; therefore, ethical approval is not required. Findings of this study will be shared at national, regional and international conferences and published in a peer-reviewed journal.
We registered the protocol with the Open Science Framework.
性传播感染（STIs）在撒哈拉以南非洲构成了巨大的公共卫生挑战，该地区的患病率位居全球最高之列。诸如医疗服务获取有限、耻辱感以及诊断设施不足等障碍阻碍了及时的检测和治疗。性传播感染检测的自我采样为应对这些挑战提供了一种潜在的解决方案。本范围综述将系统梳理撒哈拉以南非洲地区性传播感染自我采样的现有证据，重点关注其可行性、可接受性、实施情况和结果。
本范围综述将以阿克西和奥马利框架为指导。该综述将全面检索来自各种文献库和数据库的同行评审文献和灰色文献。将检索以下数据库：PubMed、Scopus和全球卫生数据库。纳入的研究将符合特定标准。综述结果将根据系统评价和Meta分析方案的首选报告项目清单进行报告。
本研究采用的方法是对现有文献进行范围综述；因此，无需伦理批准。本研究的结果将在国家、区域和国际会议上分享，并发表在同行评审期刊上。
我们已在开放科学框架中注册了该方案。
