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Family Planning in Tanzania: A Systematic Review of Published Empirical Literature from 1970s to 2012

Received: 27 February 2020     Accepted: 10 April 2020     Published: 30 April 2020
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Abstract

This article is an output of a systematic review to examine the trend of family planning research in Tanzania. The purpose of the review was to analyse published studies on family planning in the country from 1970 to 2012. The review aimed at examining the focus and key findings of family planning studies conducted during that period in order to identify areas where more research is needed. Searching was first done in Picarta, where a list of articles and abstracts were extracted. Those articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria or not well aligned with the keywords were excluded. This procedure was used in Purple search exploring in PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Enconlit and Business Source Premier. The Scopus search engine was consulted and the same procedures were used to enumerate all articles that met the inclusion criteria. During the review, qualitative approach was used, whereby content analysis was used to identify published peer reviewed articles and reports that address family planning programs in Tanzania. The analysis was done to summarize the main themes from reviewed articles and reports. The findings show that most of the studies reviewed employed quantitative approach using secondary data from various surveys conducted in Tanzania. While many of these studies largely focused on the determinants of contraceptive use and change in behaviour; a few focused on policy issues. With regard to thematic focus, accessibility and perceived quality of services, the impact of mass media advocacy on family planning particularly on contraceptive use were the key themes that featured more often in these studies. The paper concludes that the studies conducted in Tanzania from 1970 to 2012 focused at large on individual family planning behaviour and employed quantitative approach. The review also found that the studies were mostly holistic, analysing the whole country as a single unit of analysis ignoring context variations. Besides, the focus of most of the studies was on the determinants of contraceptive use. The studies were inclined on individual behaviour, with no attention to the institutional arrangements in the provision of family planning services, hence, creating a potential research gap. This study suggests that future studies should focus on policy and programme documents that guide implementation of family planning interventions. Furthermore, disaggregated studies examining regional variations in family planning programme implementation are recommended so as to capture context specific practices and challenges.

Published in Central African Journal of Public Health (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.cajph.20200603.17
Page(s) 154-163
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Family Planning, Systematic Review, Empirical Literature, Tanzania

References
[1] Chen, S., & Guilkey, D. K. (2003). Determinants of contraceptive method choice in rural Tanzania between 1991 and 1999. Studies in family planning, 34 (4), 263-276.
[2] Msofe, Grace E. P Kiondo, Elizabeth. (2009). Accessibility and use of family planning information (FPI) by rural people in Kilombero District. Africa Journal of Library, Achives and Information Science 19 (2), 117-127.
[3] Tengia-Kessy, A., & Rwabudongo, N. (2006). Utilization of modern family planning methods among women of reproductive age in a rural setting: the case of Shinyanga rural district, Tanzania. East African Journal of Public Heath, 3 (2), 26-30.
[4] Creanga, A. A., Gillespie, D., Karklins, S., & Tsui, A. O. (2011). Low use of contraception among poor women in Africa: an equity issue. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 89, 258-266.
[5] Anasel, M. G. (2017). Family planning programme implementation: Differences in Contraceptive Prevalence Rates across Local Government Authorities in Tanzania, Vakgroep Bestuursrecht & Bestuurskunde Groningen http://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/40480908/Complete_thesis.pdf.
[6] Oyedokun A. O (2007), Determinant of contraceptive Usage; Lesson from women in Osun State Nigeria, Humanities & Social Science, 1 (2), pp. 1-14.
[7] Anasel, M. G., & Mlinga, U. J. (2014). Determinants of contraceptive use among married women in Tanzania: Policy implication. African Population Studies, 28, 976-988.
[8] Ali, M. M., & Cleland, J. (2010). Oral contraceptive discontinuation and its aftermath in 19 developing countries. Contraception, 81 (1), 22-29.
[9] Richey, L. A. (2008). Global knowledge/local bodies: Family planning service providers' interpretations of contraceptive knowledge (s). Demographic Research, 18, 469-498.
[10] Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC) [Tanzania Mainland], Ministry of Health (MoH) [Zanzibar], National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS), and ICF. 2016. Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey and Malaria Indicator Survey (TDHS-MIS) 2015-16. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Rockville, Maryland, USA: MoHCDGEC, MoH, NBS, OCGS, and ICF.
[11] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2015).
[12] Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[13] Olaitan O. L. (2011). Factors influencing the choice of family planning among couples in Southwest Nigeria. International Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences 3 (7), 227-232.
[14] Grizzle, M. (2012). Family Planning | White Paper World Youth Alliance, New York.
[15] Swai, I. L., & Anasel, M. G. (2019). Urbanisation Pace in Tanzania: The Delivery of Water and Electricity in Selected Urbanised Cities. Social Sciences, 8 (6), 338-347. http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=202&doi=10.11648/j.ss.20190806.16.
[16] Swai, I. L., & Anasel, M. G. (2020). What Are They Speaking for: The Relative Participation of Female Councillors on Influencing “Health Related Female Interests” in the Decision Making Processes. Advances in Applied Sociology, 10 (2), 11-22.
[17] Buse K., Mays N. & Walt G. (2005), Making Health policy, Ashford Colour Press ltd, Gosport Hampshire Uk.
[18] Buse, K. (2008). Addressing the theoretical, practical and ethical challenges inherent in prospective health policy analysis. Health policy and planning, 23 (5), 351-360.
[19] Cheung, K. K., Mirzaei, M., & Leeder, S. (2010). Health policy analysis: A tool to evaluate in policy documents the alignment between policy statements and intended outcomes. Australian Health Review, 34 (4), 405-413.
[20] Chitama, D., Baltussen, R., Ketting, E., Kamazima, S., Nswilla, A., & Mujinja, P. G. M. (2011). From papers to practices: District level priority setting processes and criteria for family planning, maternal, newborn and child health interventions in Tanzania. BMC Women's Health, 46.
[21] Schanke, L., & Lange, S. (2008). Decentralisation and Gender Coordination and Cooperation on Maternal Health Issues in Selected District Councils in Tanzania. CMI.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Mackfallen Giliadi Anasel. (2020). Family Planning in Tanzania: A Systematic Review of Published Empirical Literature from 1970s to 2012. Central African Journal of Public Health, 6(3), 154-163. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20200603.17

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    ACS Style

    Mackfallen Giliadi Anasel. Family Planning in Tanzania: A Systematic Review of Published Empirical Literature from 1970s to 2012. Cent. Afr. J. Public Health 2020, 6(3), 154-163. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20200603.17

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    AMA Style

    Mackfallen Giliadi Anasel. Family Planning in Tanzania: A Systematic Review of Published Empirical Literature from 1970s to 2012. Cent Afr J Public Health. 2020;6(3):154-163. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20200603.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.cajph.20200603.17,
      author = {Mackfallen Giliadi Anasel},
      title = {Family Planning in Tanzania: A Systematic Review of Published Empirical Literature from 1970s to 2012},
      journal = {Central African Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {6},
      number = {3},
      pages = {154-163},
      doi = {10.11648/j.cajph.20200603.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20200603.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cajph.20200603.17},
      abstract = {This article is an output of a systematic review to examine the trend of family planning research in Tanzania. The purpose of the review was to analyse published studies on family planning in the country from 1970 to 2012. The review aimed at examining the focus and key findings of family planning studies conducted during that period in order to identify areas where more research is needed. Searching was first done in Picarta, where a list of articles and abstracts were extracted. Those articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria or not well aligned with the keywords were excluded. This procedure was used in Purple search exploring in PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Enconlit and Business Source Premier. The Scopus search engine was consulted and the same procedures were used to enumerate all articles that met the inclusion criteria. During the review, qualitative approach was used, whereby content analysis was used to identify published peer reviewed articles and reports that address family planning programs in Tanzania. The analysis was done to summarize the main themes from reviewed articles and reports. The findings show that most of the studies reviewed employed quantitative approach using secondary data from various surveys conducted in Tanzania. While many of these studies largely focused on the determinants of contraceptive use and change in behaviour; a few focused on policy issues. With regard to thematic focus, accessibility and perceived quality of services, the impact of mass media advocacy on family planning particularly on contraceptive use were the key themes that featured more often in these studies. The paper concludes that the studies conducted in Tanzania from 1970 to 2012 focused at large on individual family planning behaviour and employed quantitative approach. The review also found that the studies were mostly holistic, analysing the whole country as a single unit of analysis ignoring context variations. Besides, the focus of most of the studies was on the determinants of contraceptive use. The studies were inclined on individual behaviour, with no attention to the institutional arrangements in the provision of family planning services, hence, creating a potential research gap. This study suggests that future studies should focus on policy and programme documents that guide implementation of family planning interventions. Furthermore, disaggregated studies examining regional variations in family planning programme implementation are recommended so as to capture context specific practices and challenges.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Family Planning in Tanzania: A Systematic Review of Published Empirical Literature from 1970s to 2012
    AU  - Mackfallen Giliadi Anasel
    Y1  - 2020/04/30
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    JF  - Central African Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Central African Journal of Public Health
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Author Information
  • School of Public Administration and Management, Department of Health Systems Management Mzumbe University, Morogoro, Tanzania

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