To assess the pooled prevalence of self-reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and their associated factors among adults in South and Southeast Asia, using the Demographic and Health Survey data collected between 2015 and 2023.

A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted using a multistage cluster sampling approach. Multilevel multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to identify predictors of self-reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Model selection was guided by Akaike’s information criterion, and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% CIs were estimated to determine statistically significant associations.

South and Southeast Asia.

This analysis included a weighted sample of 791 019 adults aged 15–49 who reported ever having had sexual intercourse. The majority of the participants were female (n=6 87 880; 87%), and most were from Southeast Asia (n=7 00 539; 89%).

The pooled prevalence of self-reported STIs among adults in South and Southeast Asia was 12.94% (95% CI 7.73% to 18.14%). At the individual level, higher odds of reporting STIs were associated with being female (AOR 1.84; 95% CI1.68 to 2.02), having middle (AOR 1.11; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.19) or high wealth status (AOR 1.15; 95% CI 1.07 to 1.24]), being employed (AOR 1.14; 95% CI 1.07 to 1.22), having multiple sexual partners (AOR 2.79; 95% CI 2.22 to 3.52) and having undergone HIV testing (AOR 1.10; 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.20). Conversely, lower odds of self-reported STIs were observed among individuals aged 35–39 years (AOR 0.78; 95% CI 0.66 to 0.92), 40–44 years (AOR 0.68; 95% CI 0.58 to 0.82) and 45–49 years (AOR 0.61; 95% CI 0.52 to 0.73); those who had ever been in a union (AOR 0.71; 95% CI 0.62 to 0.83); individuals with higher education (AOR 0.84; 95% CI 0.76 to 0.93); and those with comprehensive HIV knowledge (AOR 0.82; 95% CI 0.77 to 0.87). At the community level, high illiteracy rates (AOR 1.25; 95% CI 1.15 to 1.35) and high media non-exposure (AOR 1.11; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.20) were positively associated with STIs, while rural residence (AOR 0.81; 95% CI 0.74 to 0.89) and living in Southeast Asia (AOR: 0.47; 95% CI 0.42 to 0.53) were linked to lower odds of self-reported STIs.

A substantial prevalence of self-reported STIs was observed among adults in South and Southeast Asia. Both individual- and community-level factors influence STI risk. The individual-level determinants include socio-demographic characteristics, sexual behaviours, HIV-related knowledge and testing history, while community-level factors reflect disparities in geographic location, educational attainment and media exposure.

Palliative cancer care is comprehensive, specialised medical care of patients that aims to alleviate physical, mental and emotional distress based on patients’ needs rather than on prognosis. In Ethiopia, the federal ministry of health started palliative care (PC) in 2016. Since then, services have been developed and integrated as important components of the Health Sector Transformation Plan II. However, there is a scarcity of nationally summarised data regarding PC service utilisation in Ethiopia. Therefore, this protocol describes a planned systematic review and meta-analysis that will evaluate utilisation of PC services and its predictors among adult cancer patients in Ethiopia.

The online databases of PubMed, Hinari, EMBASE, CINHAL, Science Direct, Scopus and Google Scholar will be comprehensively searched from inception to 31 February 2025. To assess the quality of included studies, the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools will be used. The statistical software STATA V.17 will be used for data analyses. To examine the heterogeneity between studies, inverse variance (I²) will be used. To calculate the pooled prevalence of PC service utilisation, a fixed or random effects meta-analyses model will be used with a 95% CI, depending on the presence or absence of heterogeneity between included studies. To look for publication bias, a visual inspection of the funnel plot and Egger and Begg’s regression test and a 5% level of significance will be used.

Ethical approval is not applicable. The results will be disseminated to academic beneficiaries and the public.