Teenage pregnancy is a major public health problem with huge consequences for maternal health and pregnancy outcomes. This calls for a concerted effort from different stakeholders involved in issues of teenagers’ sexual reproductive health to achieve the SDG target of 2030 on the reduction of maternal mortality. The objective of this systematic review was to estimate the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and its associated factors in Uganda.

We conducted a systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis standards.

After prospective registration (PROSPERO CRD42023486460), a literature search was conducted in PubMed, African Journals Online and Google Scholar in December 2023.

Observational studies that reported the prevalence of teenage pregnancy among teenagers were included.

Articles were screened for relevance at the title, abstract and full-text levels by multiple reviewers. The quality of studies was independently appraised using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Any discrepancies were resolved by reaching a consensus. The process of extracting data included study information, geographical categorisation, type of studies, population, sample size, results/outcomes and prevalence of teenage pregnancy. The risk of bias was determined by Egger’s test. The results were pooled using random-effects models to calculate the prevalence of teenage pregnancy with a CI of 95% and I² statistic.

Of 918 records screened, 10 studies (4143 participants) were included. The pooled prevalence of teenage pregnancy was 25.5% (95% CI 13.7% to 39.5%; I²=98.9%), with individual study estimates ranging widely from 3.0% to 56.4%, reflecting substantial heterogeneity across study settings, populations and periods of data collection. Higher estimates were observed in the Central–Eastern region (31.7%, 95% CI 19.5% to 45.1%). The overall certainty of evidence was rated as very low using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework, primarily due to very serious inconsistency across included studies (I²=98.9%).

Pooling studies of mixed quality revealed a slightly higher prevalence of teenage pregnancy in Uganda. This review provides valuable insight for policymakers and healthcare providers in developing interventions and policies to reduce the burden of teenage pregnancy from disadvantaged backgrounds.

CRD42023486460.

Non-specific chronic low back pain is a leading cause of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) with a lifetime prevalence of 80%–85%. Although many modalities of treating chronic low back pain are available, pharmacotherapy remains a very important treatment modality, according to many recognised guidelines. Each of these pharmacological agents has evidence supporting its efficacy in treating chronic low back pain, and each of them is associated with side effects. At present, no study has unified these two outcomes or ranked them from the most effective to the least effective. Thus, this study aims to identify pharmacological agents that rank best by conducting multivariate bivariate network meta-analysis.

Four databases (Medline/Pubmed, Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews and CINAHL) will be systematically searched from their inception to 31 July 2024 for randomised control trials that meet the inclusion criteria. Appropriate data will be extracted from the relevant studies, including the two outcomes of interest: the pain intensity score and the proportion of patients who withdrew from the study because of adverse events. A bivariate Bayesian network meta-analysis will be used to combine the two outcomes of interest to form a single probability that will rank the pharmacotherapy agents from the most effective and safe to the least. The studies will be assessed for risk of bias, and their evidence will be graded using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation assessment tool. Inconsistency, which is a key assumption of network meta-analysis, will be assessed using both local and global methods.

This systematic review is based on already published data, so it does not require ethical approval. The findings from the review, after completion, will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications.

CRD42024569192.