Lactational amenorrhoea among adolescent girls in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic scoping review

Introduction Fertility levels among adolescents remain high in many settings. The objective of this paper was to review the available literature about postpartum and lactational amenorrhoea among adolescents in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).Methods We searched Medline, Embase, Globa...

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Main Authors: Lenka Benova, Thérèse Delvaux, Saverio Bellizzi, Martines N S Figaroa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-10-01
Series:BMJ Global Health
Online Access:https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/10/e002492.full
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author Lenka Benova
Thérèse Delvaux
Saverio Bellizzi
Martines N S Figaroa
author_facet Lenka Benova
Thérèse Delvaux
Saverio Bellizzi
Martines N S Figaroa
author_sort Lenka Benova
collection DOAJ
description Introduction Fertility levels among adolescents remain high in many settings. The objective of this paper was to review the available literature about postpartum and lactational amenorrhoea among adolescents in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).Methods We searched Medline, Embase, Global Health and CINAHL Plus databases using terms capturing adolescence and lactational or postpartum amenorrhoea. Inclusion criteria included publication date since 1990, data from LMICs, and topic related to lactational amenorrhoea as a postpartum family planning method or as an effect of (exclusive) breast feeding among adolescents. Thematic analysis and narrative synthesis were applied to summarise and interpret the findings.Results We screened 982 titles and abstracts, reviewed 75 full-text articles and included nine. Eight studies assessed data from a single country (three from India, two from Bangladesh, two from Turkey, one from Nigeria). One study using Demographic and Health Survey data included 37 different LMICs. The five studies measuring duration of postpartum or lactational amenorrhoea reported a wide range of durations across the contexts examined. Four studies (from Bangladesh, Nigeria and Turkey) examined outcomes related to the use of lactational amenorrhoea as a family planning method among adolescents. We did not find any studies assessing adolescents’ knowledge of lactational amenorrhoea as a postpartum family planning method. Likewise, little is known about the effectiveness of lactational amenorrhoea method among adolescents using sufficiently large samples and follow-up time.Conclusion The available evidence on lactational amenorrhoea among adolescents in LMICs is scarce. Given the potential contribution of lactational amenorrhoea to prevention of short interpregnancy intervals among adolescents and young women, there is a need for a better understanding of the duration of lactational amenorrhoea, and the knowledge and effective use of lactational amenorrhoea method for family planning among adolescents in a wider range of LMIC settings.
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spelling doaj-art-a633e27755544ca78cc8db0e91c04ca52024-12-11T18:25:10ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082020-10-0151010.1136/bmjgh-2020-002492Lactational amenorrhoea among adolescent girls in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic scoping reviewLenka Benova0Thérèse Delvaux1Saverio Bellizzi2Martines N S Figaroa3Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerpen, BelgiumDepartment of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerpen, Belgium1 WHO Health Emergencies Programme, WHO Jordan Country Office, Amman, Jordan1 Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Antwerp, Antwerpen, BelgiumIntroduction Fertility levels among adolescents remain high in many settings. The objective of this paper was to review the available literature about postpartum and lactational amenorrhoea among adolescents in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).Methods We searched Medline, Embase, Global Health and CINAHL Plus databases using terms capturing adolescence and lactational or postpartum amenorrhoea. Inclusion criteria included publication date since 1990, data from LMICs, and topic related to lactational amenorrhoea as a postpartum family planning method or as an effect of (exclusive) breast feeding among adolescents. Thematic analysis and narrative synthesis were applied to summarise and interpret the findings.Results We screened 982 titles and abstracts, reviewed 75 full-text articles and included nine. Eight studies assessed data from a single country (three from India, two from Bangladesh, two from Turkey, one from Nigeria). One study using Demographic and Health Survey data included 37 different LMICs. The five studies measuring duration of postpartum or lactational amenorrhoea reported a wide range of durations across the contexts examined. Four studies (from Bangladesh, Nigeria and Turkey) examined outcomes related to the use of lactational amenorrhoea as a family planning method among adolescents. We did not find any studies assessing adolescents’ knowledge of lactational amenorrhoea as a postpartum family planning method. Likewise, little is known about the effectiveness of lactational amenorrhoea method among adolescents using sufficiently large samples and follow-up time.Conclusion The available evidence on lactational amenorrhoea among adolescents in LMICs is scarce. Given the potential contribution of lactational amenorrhoea to prevention of short interpregnancy intervals among adolescents and young women, there is a need for a better understanding of the duration of lactational amenorrhoea, and the knowledge and effective use of lactational amenorrhoea method for family planning among adolescents in a wider range of LMIC settings.https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/10/e002492.full
spellingShingle Lenka Benova
Thérèse Delvaux
Saverio Bellizzi
Martines N S Figaroa
Lactational amenorrhoea among adolescent girls in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic scoping review
BMJ Global Health
title Lactational amenorrhoea among adolescent girls in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic scoping review
title_full Lactational amenorrhoea among adolescent girls in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic scoping review
title_fullStr Lactational amenorrhoea among adolescent girls in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic scoping review
title_full_unstemmed Lactational amenorrhoea among adolescent girls in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic scoping review
title_short Lactational amenorrhoea among adolescent girls in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic scoping review
title_sort lactational amenorrhoea among adolescent girls in low income and middle income countries a systematic scoping review
url https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/10/e002492.full
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