Prevalence unmet need for family planning and its associated factors in Ethiopia 2019: sytematic review and meta analysis

Abstract Background unmet need for family planning is a common cuase of uninteded pregnancy which mostly end up with abortion. Many fragmented studies were conducted on unmet need in Ethiopia but no single evidence was present. So this meta analysis was established to estimate the pooled prevalence of unmet need for family planning in Ethiopia. Methods articles were retrived through search engines: PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, HINARI portal, and Cochrane Library using the preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA) checklist guidelines. Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) was applied for critical appraisal of included articles. Random effect model meta analysis was done to estimate the pooled prevalence of unmet need for family planning with their respective Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Cochran’s Q statistic, Egger’s and Begg’s test and meta regression were carried out to assess heterogeneity, publication bias and to identify associated factors respectively. Results 15 articles and 17, 585 reproductive age women were included to estimate the polled prevalence of unmet need for family planning in Ethiopia. The pooled prevalence of unmet need for family planning in Ethiopia was 31.45% (95%CI: 26.52, 36.39). Age at first marriage <18yrs with OR=2.3 (95% CI: 1.08, 4.87), being illiterate women with OR= 0.9 (95%CI: 1.19, 3.04), illiterate partner with OR=1.78 (95%CI: 1.18, 2.68) and absence of discussion with their partner with OR=3.52 (95%CI: 2.56, 4.87) were the associated factors. Conclusion This meta analysis revealed the prevalence of unmet need for family planning in Ethiopia was high. Early marriage, illiteracy and absence of open discussion were factors affecting the prevalence of unmet ned for family planning. Therefore, the responsible body inlcuding family health guiadance should strength women empowerment interms of education (equal accessible eduaction for all), avoid early marriage (before 18yrs) and facilitate open partners discussion within house hold.