Scoping Review of Reproductive Health Knowledge Gaps for Women with Multiple Sclerosis

A scoping review of 29 studies, identified from 545 screened records, on knowledge gaps in reproductive health for women with multiple sclerosis. The review categorizes data according to 13 key reproductive health indicators and includes studies on both patients and healthcare professionals. Most studies (72%) are based in high-income countries.

Use Cases

• Analyze the distribution of 13 key reproductive health indicators across study characteristics like geographic area and study design.
• Identify research gaps by comparing the prevalence of studies targeting women with MS (59% of included studies) versus healthcare professionals.
• Map the geographic bias in evidence by examining the concentration of studies in high-income countries (72% of studies).
• Use the categorized data to trace information needs on specific reproductive health topics for women of childbearing age with MS.

Strengths

• Data is systematically categorized using 13 key reproductive health indicators.
• Review is based on 29 included studies screened from 545 initial records.
• Explicitly includes studies on both patients (59% of studies) and healthcare professionals.
• Clear documentation of geographic focus, with 72% of studies from high-income countries.

Limitations

• Small evidence base of only 29 included studies limits statistical power for broad conclusions.
• Strong geographic bias, with most evidence from high-income countries, limiting applicability to low- and middle-income settings.
• Data is a qualitative synthesis from a scoping review, not primary quantitative or tabular data.

Provenance

Source

Claudia De Santis via figshare.

Collection Method

Scoping review conducted by searching three databases for peer-reviewed studies in May 2025.

Time Range

Review covers studies up to the search date in May 2025; specific temporal coverage of included studies is not stated.

Freshness

The review was conducted in May 2025 and the record was last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Global in scope, but 72% of included studies are from high-income countries.