Economic Evaluation of Family Planning Interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Systematic Review.

<h4>Background</h4>A significant number of women in low and middle income countries (L-MICs) who need any family planning, experience a lack in access to modern effective methods. This study was conducted to review potential cost effectiveness of scaling up family planning interventions...

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Main Authors: Neily Zakiyah, Antoinette D I van Asselt, Frank Roijmans, Maarten J Postma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168447
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author Neily Zakiyah
Antoinette D I van Asselt
Frank Roijmans
Maarten J Postma
author_facet Neily Zakiyah
Antoinette D I van Asselt
Frank Roijmans
Maarten J Postma
author_sort Neily Zakiyah
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>A significant number of women in low and middle income countries (L-MICs) who need any family planning, experience a lack in access to modern effective methods. This study was conducted to review potential cost effectiveness of scaling up family planning interventions in these regions from the published literatures and assess their implication for policy and future research.<h4>Study design</h4>A systematic review was performed in several electronic databases i.e Medline (Pubmed), Embase, Popline, The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), EBSCOHost, and The Cochrane Library. Articles reporting full economic evaluations of strategies to improve family planning interventions in one or more L-MICs, published between 1995 until 2015 were eligible for inclusion. Data was synthesized and analyzed using a narrative approach and the reporting quality of the included studies was assessed using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement.<h4>Results</h4>From 920 references screened, 9 studies were eligible for inclusion. Six references assessed cost effectiveness of improving family planning interventions in one or more L-MICs, while the rest assessed costs and consequences of integrating family planning and HIV services, concerning sub-Saharan Africa. Assembled evidence suggested that improving family planning interventions is cost effective in a variety of L-MICs as measured against accepted international cost effectiveness benchmarks. In areas with high HIV prevalence, integrating family planning and HIV services can be efficient and cost effective; however the evidence is only supported by a very limited number of studies. The major drivers of cost effectiveness were cost of increasing coverage, effectiveness of the interventions and country-specific factors.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Improving family planning interventions in low and middle income countries appears to be cost-effective. Additional economic evaluation studies with improved reporting quality are necessary to generate further evidence on costs, cost-effectiveness, and affordability, and to support increased funding and investments in family planning programs.
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spelling doaj-art-97b28e6e7aeb45018ab57ed4eab86bb72025-08-20T03:29:15ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-011112e016844710.1371/journal.pone.0168447Economic Evaluation of Family Planning Interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Systematic Review.Neily ZakiyahAntoinette D I van AsseltFrank RoijmansMaarten J Postma<h4>Background</h4>A significant number of women in low and middle income countries (L-MICs) who need any family planning, experience a lack in access to modern effective methods. This study was conducted to review potential cost effectiveness of scaling up family planning interventions in these regions from the published literatures and assess their implication for policy and future research.<h4>Study design</h4>A systematic review was performed in several electronic databases i.e Medline (Pubmed), Embase, Popline, The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), EBSCOHost, and The Cochrane Library. Articles reporting full economic evaluations of strategies to improve family planning interventions in one or more L-MICs, published between 1995 until 2015 were eligible for inclusion. Data was synthesized and analyzed using a narrative approach and the reporting quality of the included studies was assessed using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement.<h4>Results</h4>From 920 references screened, 9 studies were eligible for inclusion. Six references assessed cost effectiveness of improving family planning interventions in one or more L-MICs, while the rest assessed costs and consequences of integrating family planning and HIV services, concerning sub-Saharan Africa. Assembled evidence suggested that improving family planning interventions is cost effective in a variety of L-MICs as measured against accepted international cost effectiveness benchmarks. In areas with high HIV prevalence, integrating family planning and HIV services can be efficient and cost effective; however the evidence is only supported by a very limited number of studies. The major drivers of cost effectiveness were cost of increasing coverage, effectiveness of the interventions and country-specific factors.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Improving family planning interventions in low and middle income countries appears to be cost-effective. Additional economic evaluation studies with improved reporting quality are necessary to generate further evidence on costs, cost-effectiveness, and affordability, and to support increased funding and investments in family planning programs.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168447
spellingShingle Neily Zakiyah
Antoinette D I van Asselt
Frank Roijmans
Maarten J Postma
Economic Evaluation of Family Planning Interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Systematic Review.
PLoS ONE
title Economic Evaluation of Family Planning Interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Systematic Review.
title_full Economic Evaluation of Family Planning Interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Systematic Review.
title_fullStr Economic Evaluation of Family Planning Interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Systematic Review.
title_full_unstemmed Economic Evaluation of Family Planning Interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Systematic Review.
title_short Economic Evaluation of Family Planning Interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Systematic Review.
title_sort economic evaluation of family planning interventions in low and middle income countries a systematic review
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168447
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AT frankroijmans economicevaluationoffamilyplanninginterventionsinlowandmiddleincomecountriesasystematicreview
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