Scoping Review on Youth Partner Notification for STIs in Sub-Saharan Africa

A scoping review document mapping evidence on youth experiences and practices regarding partner notification for sexually transmitted infections in sub-Saharan Africa. The review, authored by Makananelo Kenoakae Pule and published on figshare in April 2026, identified 117 articles, with three studies from Southern Africa meeting the final inclusion criteria. The document analyzes barriers and facilitators to partner notification among youth aged 15–24.

Use Cases

• Identify research gaps in youth sexual health interventions based on the scoping review methodology described.
• Analyze sociocultural barriers to partner notification based on the factors (patient-related, sociocultural, health system) identified in the review.
• Inform the design of youth-focused STI programs based on the evidence mapping of experiences and practices.
• Benchmark the volume of published evidence on this topic based on the search results of 117 identified articles.

Strengths

• The review follows a structured methodology (Arksey and O'Malley framework, Joanna Briggs Institute) for evidence mapping.
• Search parameters are clearly defined, covering publications from January 2016 to January 2026 across five major databases.
• Inclusion criteria and screening results are explicitly reported, detailing the flow from 117 articles to 3 final studies.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 25.9 KB DOCX document, which is a very small text file containing review findings, not raw research data.
• The underlying data consists of findings from only three included studies, indicating a limited evidence base on the topic.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download as the document structure is unknown.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author Makananelo Kenoakae Pule.

Collection Method

Scoping review conducted via database search (PubMed, SCOPUS, Medline, CINHAL, OVID) and systematic screening.

Time Range

Evidence published between January 2016 and January 2026; search conducted in February 2026.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 05:22:49; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Sub-Saharan Africa, with included studies from Zimbabwe and South Africa.