Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jul 10, 2023
Date Accepted: Oct 14, 2023
Epidemiology of syphilis in pregnancy and congenital syphilis in Brazil and risk or associated factors: a systematic review protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Syphilis in pregnancy and congenital syphilis are growing public health issues in worldwide, and its occurrence in the population can be influenced by several factors. However, so far none systematic review will summarize and analyze data on incidence, prevalence, and predictors of these diseases in Brazilian cities, considering different socio-cultural, demographic, economic, sanitary, and spatial-temporal characteristics presented between the locations.
Objective:
We propose a systematic review protocol to gather and analyze the incidence, prevalence, and risk or associated factors of syphilis in pregnancy and congenital syphilis in Brazil, according to different local or regional contexts.
Methods:
Searches will be conducted in CINAHL, MEDLINE, LILACS, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases. We will include observational studies analyzing incidence, prevalence, and risk or associated factors of syphilis in pregnancy and congenital syphilis in Brazil. Results will be discussed based on subgroup analysis: (1) type of syphilis (in pregnancy or congenital), (2) type of study (case-control and cross-sectional for analysis of associated factors and longitudinal for risk factors), and (3) contextual factors (region of country, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, year of study). The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the GRADE system will assess methodological quality and quality of evidence of studies, respectively. Kappa coefficient will assess the agreement between researchers in each study stage. Cochran’s Q test will assess the heterogeneity among studies. Then, a random-effects meta-analysis will be performed.
Results:
The studies are being screened in the databases, and after this step two reviewers will perform all identified documents. This systematic review is expected to be completed by December 2023 and your results will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and scientific events.
Conclusions:
Thus, this systematic review will help the decision-making of healthcare managers and professionals to control these diseases in Brazil according to location heterogeneity. Furthermore, countries with health systems and demographic and socioeconomic contexts similar to those of Brazil may benefit from this information.
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