The International Sexual Health And REproductive Health during COVID-19 (I-SHARE) Study: A Multicountry Analysis of Adults from 30 Countries Prior to and During the Initial Coronavirus Disease 2019 Wave.
Journal: Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Volume: 75
Issue: 1
Year of Publication: 2022
Affiliated Institutions:
Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.
Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Department of Psychology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Family Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Department of Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Center for Population, Family, and Health, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Botswana Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative, Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana.
Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Faculty of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies, Panama City, Panama.
Collaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Health Systems Strengthening, Foundation for Professional Development, Pretoria, South Africa.
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
End FGM/C Centre of Excellence, Amref Health Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Psychology, Sapienzo University, Rome, Italy.
Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya, Malaysia.
Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Institute of Public Health, Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia.
Clinical Research Department, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Department of Dermatology, Venereology & Andrology, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt.
Department of Psychology, University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USAand.
University of North Carolina Project-China, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract summary
There is limited evidence to date about changes to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) during the initial wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To address this gap, our team organized a multicountry, cross-sectional online survey as part of a global consortium.Consortium research teams conducted online surveys in 30 countries. Sampling methods included convenience, online panels, and population-representative. Primary outcomes included sexual behaviors, partner violence, and SRH service use, and we compared 3 months prior to and during policy measures to mitigate COVID-19. We conducted meta-analyses for primary outcomes and graded the certainty of the evidence.Among 4546 respondents with casual partners, condom use stayed the same for 3374 (74.4%), and 640 (14.1%) reported a decline. Fewer respondents reported physical or sexual partner violence during COVID-19 measures (1063 of 15 144, 7.0%) compared to before COVID-19 measures (1469 of 15 887, 9.3%). COVID-19 measures impeded access to condoms (933 of 10 790, 8.7%), contraceptives (610 of 8175, 7.5%), and human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted infection (HIV/STI) testing (750 of 1965, 30.7%). Pooled estimates from meta-analysis indicate that during COVID-19 measures, 32.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 23.9%-42.1%) of people needing HIV/STI testing had hindered access, 4.4% (95% CI, 3.4%-5.4%) experienced partner violence, and 5.8% (95% CI, 5.4%-8.2%) decreased casual partner condom use (moderate certainty of evidence for each outcome). Meta-analysis findings were robust in sensitivity analyses that examined country income level, sample size, and sampling strategy.Open science methods are feasible to organize research studies as part of emergency responses. The initial COVID-19 wave impacted SRH behaviors and access to services across diverse global settings.
Authors & Co-authors:
Toller Erausquin
Tan
Uhlich
Francis
Kumar
Campbell
Zhang
Hlatshwako
Kosana
Shah
Brenner
Remmerie
Mussa
Klapilova
Mark
Perotta
Gabster
Wouters
Burns
Hendriks
Hensel
Shamu
Marie Strizzi
Esho
Morroni
Eleuteri
Sahril
Yun Low
Plasilova
Lazdane
Marks
Olumide
Abdelhamed
López Gómez
Michielsen
Moreau
Tucker
Study Outcome
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