Table 3 Summary of characteristics of the articles included in the meta-synthesis
Authors, Publication date and Setting | Purpose | Design | Field of study | Sample’s characteristics (Men or Women) | Type of data analysis | Method of data collection | Findings | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nesane, K., S.M [15] (2016) Guatemala | Exploring men's views about their participation in the maternal health center | exploratory descriptive | Maternal healthcare | Husband of women who became pregnant 2 years ago | thematic analyze | individual interviews | Them: Maternity care issues are viewed as a Femininity domain. Three sub-themes of culture and involvement in childbirth, job status of male partners, and the unwillingness of men to involvement in maternal health issues | 15 |
Teklesilasie, W. [16] (2020) Ethiopia | to determine the barriers of men participate in maternity health care | exploratory descriptive | maternity care | Men who have had a child in the last 5 years | thematic analyze | individual interviews,face-to-face discussions | parturition is a natural procedure Pregnancy and childbirth is a women's issue Prefer to receive TBA care spouse participation in maternity care as a new idea | 102 |
3 Gibore, N.S [17] (2020) Tanzania | Determining social perspectives on barriers that potentially prevent men from participating in pregnancy care | qualitative approach | maternal health care | Couples with children 2 years and younger, society leaders, Rural health workers, Health professionals | thematic analyze | focus group discussions in-depth interviews | in pregnancy care Behavior based on gender expectations set in culture in pregnancy care, Extramarital pregnancy, Fear of HIV testing, Economic and family instability-unawareness-Health system issues | 66 |
4 Ongolly, F.K [20] (2019) western Kenya | Determining barriers to the presence of men in antenatal and postpartum care | mixed methods | Antenatal care postnatal care | Men who had children in the past year key informant | thematic analyze | focus group discussions | Barriers to men's participation included cultural issues, economic issues, health system issues. Sub-themes included: Maternal health is a women's issue, existence the traditional maternal care (cultural issues), men's jobs, low income, care's costs (economic issues) and lack of services related to men, time-consuming services, health care providers' perspective, lack of space For men, lack of privacy in the centers (health system) | 44 |
Kwambai, T.K., et al. [30] (2013) Kenya | exploring the Men's perceptions of antenatal Care | qualitative approach | antenatal and childbirth care | married men | thematic analyze | focus group discussions | Supporting pregnant women as a female duty, Men as the provider, Men as decision maker, The negative attitude of health providers about male participation, Unfriendly structure of maternal care centers for couples | 68 |
6 Nyondo, A.L., A.F.,et al. [31] (2014) Malawi | Determining of promoting and hindering factors for men's participate in preventing of transition of HIV from mother to child | exploratory qualitative study | preventing of transition of HIV from mother to child | men AND women AND Medical Assistant | thematic analyze | Focus Group discussion face to face Interviews | Unawareness of men about PMTCT, socio-economic issues, communication issues Being shy about issues related to women, unwanted pregnancy or extramarital Pregnancies, Fear of finding out of his HIV status, Reluctance to communicate with the service, Issues related to health facilities, peer effects and cultural Issues | 41 |
7 Adongo, P.B., et al. [32] (2014) Ghana | Exploring the community perceptions about vasectomy and its influences on vasectomy acceptance | qualitative approach | vasectomy | Health workers and health nurses and community members including men, women and health volunteers | thematic analyze | focus group,interviews | Considering Vasectomy as an action against the will of God and subject to the death penalty or accountability on the Day of Judgment, Perception of vasectomy as castration leads to weakening of men in female sexual satisfaction, Concerned about the negative side effects of vasectomy on men, Using the alternative medicine as contraception | 148 |
8 Kabagenyi, A., et al. [33] (2014) Uganda | Exploring women's and men's perspectives on components that prevent men from supporting and using the contraception methods | A cross-sectional qualitative study | contraceptive uptake and reproductive health | Men, women, Government and society leaders | thematic analyses | Focus group interviews | Components that prevent men from participating include: negative Side effects of feminine methods of contraceptives that cause sexual dysfunctionRestriction of available manly contraceptive methods, considering family planning as a femininity issue through perceived gender norms and traditional interaction in reproductive health care, The tendency to have a large family is hindered by the distance between births, Men's concern about their spouse's extramarital sex after taking contraceptives | 162 |
Dral, A.A., et al.[34] (2018) Malawi | Determining the effective components on participation of men in family planning | qualitative study | Family Planning | men, women and health surveillance assistants | Inductive content analysis was performed | semi-structured interviews | Components that motivate people's health behaviors, Gender norms governing relationships, health behavioral proficiencies, Awareness about health behaviors, socio-economic, socio-economic components | 23 |
Adejoh, S.O., A, et al. [65] (2017) Nigeria | Determining the components that influenced men's involvement in maternity health issues | A cross-sectional qualitative study | Maternal Health | married men | thematic analyze | in-depth interview | Health care price, Downturn, and job responsibility as the Cause of non-active involvement of men in antenatal care | 30 |
Auvinen, J., et al. [35] (2013) Zambia | Exploring men's views on the components that prevent participating them to the program of preventing the transit of HIV from mother to child | qualitative descriptive study | preventing the transit of HIV from mother to child | men | Described Content Analysis by Miles and Huberman (1994) | in-depth interview | The barrier of men involvement: Conditions such as poverty, refugee, lack of supportive preparations, and the prevailing culture of prenatal care, passivity, unawareness, marital disagreement, stigma caused by HIV-related conditions, and cultural issues, including patriarchy and religious beliefs prevented men from participating | 21 |
Mohlala, B.K., S.et al. [36] (2012) South Africa | Exploring men and pregnant women's experiences, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and about men's participation in antenatal care | qualitative studies | Antenatal care | pregnant women and men | Inductive(Goss & Leinbach, 1996) and Deductive (White & Thomson, 1995) analysis | Focus group discussions | unawareness about the male role in antenatal care, Employment Social reasons, Facility and staff attitudes, and Cultural reasons were Obstacles to the presence of men in the antenatal clinic | 60 |
Falnes, E.F., et al. [37] (2011) Tanzania | Determining the acceptance factors of the preventing of transition of HIV from mother to child program and identifying the challenges associated with male participation | Mixed methods | preventing of transition of HIV from mother to child | Women and Men and health personnel | Thematic content approach, (Graneheim and Lundman) | focus group and interview | The main barriers reported: Women were not allowed to ask their husbands for HIV testing. The antenatal Clinic, where HIV testing is performed there, was known as the female environment that men had no presence there | 46 |
Gill, M.M., et al. [38] (2017) Congo | Determining factors affecting the presence of men in antenatal care and identify interventions that potentially improve men's participation | qualitative study | Antenatal services | Men and Women and public health and medicine key informants | thematic analyze | focus group discussions and in-depth interview | Common obstacles include: Lack of time due to job issues, The unfriendly environment of the clinic for men and couples, Considering pregnancy as a female domain and Men were afraid of testing for HIV | 38 |
Jungari, S.et al. [39] (2019) India | Evaluation of men's participation in antenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care (PNC), housework, and food supply | mixed-method | maternity care | Women with children under 2 years old men whose wives gave birth health care providers village head trained/untrained dais | thematic analyze | Interviews focus group | Men believed that their presence in maternal care was not necessary and also they believed that maternity care is a feminine issue that prevented them to participate in maternity care | 385 |
MirzaiiNajmabadi, K., et al. [40] (2019) Iran | Determining the barriers to men's participation in reproductive and sexual health education | conventional content analysis | Sexual and Reproductive Health Education | Men, religious scholars, health professionals, officials of health organizations | conventional qualitative content analysis | individual in-depth semi-structured interview | perceived threat less than usual, reluctance to learn, socio-cultural taboos, inadequate knowledge of family and Poor performance in family, policy barriers, executive barriers, and health systems deficiency under three topics including individual problems, socio-cultural issues, and structural problems as barriers to participation Men were identified | 34 |
Dovel, K., et al. [41] (2020) Malawi | Investigating the systematization of health institutions and determining the men s perspective of participating in HIV testing | mixed methods ethnography | HIV testing | healthcare workers national key informants rural health facilities observational journals | deductive and inductive technique Based on technique Atlas. Tivol version 6 | In-depth interviews in direct observation | Gender expectations intertwined with health organizations at three levels: organizational policy, organizational performance, and structural | 29 |
Kashaija, D.K [42] (2020) Tanzania | Exploring the men's perceptions and experience of their spouse support in maternity care | Qualitative descriptive study | supporting the wives during childbirth | Men | qualitative content analysis | in-depth interview | Problems in transferring spouses to health centers due to poor road infrastructure, lack of support for men's accommodation in health centers, the financial instability of men, the attitude of the health care provider prevented men from participating to support their wives | 9 |
Ladur, A.N. et.al [43] (2015) South Africa | Exploring the perspective of men, women, and health care providers about men's participation in preventing of transition of HIV from mother to child program | exploratory qualitative | preventing of transition of HIV from mother to child | Men Women HIV-positive couples service providers | Two methods: summative Content and Thematic Analysis | focus group interviews | Fear of stigma, Staff shortages, negative attitudes of health providers, tiny space of health centers, worrying about privacy, Time consuming services, and discomfort from being in the feminine environment of the health centers prevented men from participating in PMTCT services | 25 |
Kaida, A., et al.[44] (2005) Uganda | Exploring men's perspectives about family planning and determining how they tend to involve in the family planning program | Qualitative study | family planning | key informants married men | Thematic analysis | Interviews focus group discussion | Inadequate information, misconceptions, fear of side effects of contraceptive methods, insufficient access to family planning services, mistrust of service providers, Distrust between couples, failure to consult between the couple, and cultural-religious issues were barriers for participation of men in family planning programs. | 31 |
Maluka, S.O [45] (2018) Tanzania | Determining context-based perspectives on men's participation in maternity care | Qualitative study | pregnancy and childbirth care | Women who were pregnant or gave birth in the past year, men who accompanied their spouse to care center, health center staff, society leaders, social assistant, traditional birth service providers | Thematic analysis | In depth interviews | The determining gender roles in the family, fear of HIV testing, and inappropriate health centers environment for men's presence prevented them from participating | 53 |
McEvoy R. et al. [23] (2018) Burkina Faso | Exploring the viewpoints of men and women on hindrances to use of family planning method | qualitative study | family planning | men and women opinion leaders adult men and Married women | constant comparative technique | focus groups in-depth interviews | The barriers to men's participation in family planning included the negative attitudes of men, ignorance of modern methods of contraception, misconceptions about modern methods of contraception, concerns about side effects of contraceptive methods, cultural norms, and social preferences for having large families | 52 20 focus groups |
Lowe, M [46]. (2017) Gambia | Determining some basic socio-cultural issues effective on men's participation in maternity health issues | qualitative study | maternal health | Men, Traditional birth attendant | thematic analysis | focus group discussion in-depth interviews | Maternity issues were perceived as female issues. Competition of job responsibilities with issues related to maternity care. Competition between the wives of polygamous men, fear of stigma | 56 |
Reuben Mahiti, G, et al. [66] (2017) Tanzania | Determining men's viewpoints of cultural actions during postnatal care | qualitative study | Postnatal care | man | content analysis (Griesheim and Lundman) | focus group discussion | Embarrassing about participating in pregnancy care, Belief in Bing the femininity of reproductive issues, Bing unusual the Accompanying of men with their spouse in reproductive health clinics socially were barriers of male participation in reproductive health | 93 |
Aborigo, R.A., et al. [19] (2018) Ghana | Determination of the causes of men's resistance to the acceptance to play the active role in maternity care and their effects in the decision-making process for emergencies | qualitative study | maternal health | health staff society leaders | content analysis | focus group interviews | Men believe that accompanying spouses in maternity care are Unnecessary practiced. Men's involvement in maternity cares an embarrassing practice. Men believe that expressing affection to the spouse is embarrassing. Inappropriate clinical infrastructure to the presence of men | 136 |
Mkandawire, E. et al. [47] (2018) Malawi | Determining the perception of rural people about the concept of men's participation in maternal and child health. Exploring the effective factors for men's participation in maternal and child care | qualitative study | maternal and child health | Informants community members | thematic analysis | focus group interviews | Sociocultural issues, fear of social stigma, costs of male participating in antenatal care prevent men from participating in antenatal care | 70 |
Firouzan, V., et al. [18] (2019) Iran | Explore the factors that prevent men from participating in prenatal care | qualitative research | Perinatal care | Pregnant women, women who have given birth recently spouse of pregnant women Health staff | conventional content analysis | interviews, focused group | Cultural issues, personal issues, personal preferences, interpersonal issues, infrastructure issues in the health system, and socio-economic issues were the main obstacles for men | 45 |
Greenspan, J.A., et al. [48] (2019) Tanzania | Determining factors to increase men's participation in maternal and infant health services | qualitative research | Maternal and newborn health | Men | inductive analyzed | in-depth interviews | Factors associated with men's non-participation in maternal and infant care were inadequate knowledge, preference for economic activities, costs associated with care, and limiting the presence of men in health centers due to the policies governing these centers | 27 |
Ganle, J.K., et al. [49] (2015) Ghana | To determine the limiting and encouraging factors of men's participation in maternal care | qualitative research | maternal healthcare | adult men and his wife and key informants | thematic analysis | Focus group interviews | Male-dominated gender roles in society and related issues, cultural issues and practices, the financial burden of accompanying women in maternal care, and the structure of health services such as negative attitudes of health personnel, small space, inadequate working hours were factors that limited men's participation in maternal care | 80 |
Sakala, D., et al. [50] (2021) Malawi | Exploring the main factors preventing men from participating in antenatal care and determining the importance of facilitator of male participation | qualitative study | Antenatal care including HIV testing | men and women | Thematic analysis | focus group interviews | The men's preference for economic activities, fear of being seen by their friends, discomfort with being in the feminine environment of center, health center environment issues, and providing HIV related services along with other maternity services caused reducing the men's presence in antenatal services | 60 |
Gopal, P., et al. [51] (2020) Uganda | Exploring the perspectives and experiences of stakeholders on male participation in reproductive health by considering economic and political factors | qualitative study | reproductive health | Men participating in maternity health care, their spouses, organizations, and people involved in male participation in reproductive health | thematic analysis | focus group and interviews | Lack of accurate conversion of policies into action, Problems with resources in the health system and lack of skills to involve men in her reproductive health care, ‘inadequate participation by key actors’, and ‘types of dissemination’ | |
Shahjahan, M, et al. [52] (2006) Bangladesh | Exploring the men's awareness and viewpoint on reproductive health and how to increase men's participation | qualitative study | Reproductive health | Men | Dot tell | focus group | Men's lack of motivation to participate in reproductive health care, Feeling no need for reproductive health services Not encouraging men to participate in reproductive health services Lack of understanding of women's reproductive health issues due to interaction problems between couples Lack of companionship with the spouse in health services due to the prevailing culture in the community Reluctance to associate with health workers | 38 |
Sharma V,et al. [53] (2019) Nigeria | To investigate engagement of men in maternal and infant health | qualitative study | maternal and newborn health | Husbands community leaders community health workers | Thematic analysis | Interviews focus group | Inadequate knowledge, Men's gender viewpoint on issues associated with maternity care, fear of mockery, and a negative viewpoint of health's staffs, led to the limited participation of men in maternity care | 82 |
Vermeulen, E., et al. [54] (2016) Tanzania | Exploring the rural men's Perception, perspective, and behavior on participating in maternity care | Mixed method approach | pregnancy | men and health worker | Don’t tell | focus group interviews observation | A traditional gender perspective on pregnancy and maternity care, inadequate knowledge, insufficient access to prenatal care due to unavailable facilities to join the pregnancy care, and the negative experience of attending health centers | 112 |
Sharma, S.et al. [55] (2018) Nepal | Exploring the gender attitudes of health workers and teachers about the components involved in men's participation in reproductive health care | qualitative study | reproductive health | Male teachers Health professionals of the health post | content analysis | focus group and interviews | The institutionalized socio-cultural norms, lack of training about reproductive health, misconception, predomination of women as health care workers in health centers hindered the participation of men in reproductive health | 20 |
Dumbaugh M [56] (2014) Ghana | Exploring perceptions, attitudes, and barriers of male participation in newborn care in Ghana | qualitative study | Newborn care | Men and women who recently became parents | Based on the guidelines for reviewing qualitative research | focus group and interviews | Barriers identified to increase male participation in newborn care include factors related to the division of labor and space based on gender and generation | 59 |
Yeganeh N [57] (2017) Brazil | Exploring the barriers and facilitators of men's participation in prenatal care and HIV counseling in Brazil | qualitative study | prenatal care and STI | Men who did and who did not Meet whose wives and infants in the postpartum ward | Thematic analysis | interviews | Stigma against HIV-positive people and the conflict between men's work and pregnancy care planning were the main barriers to men's participation | 35 |
Willcox ML [58] (2021) Uganda | exploring the barriers and facilitators of couples counseling programs on postpartum family planning and prenatal counseling in Uganda | qualitative study | family planning | Women who attend antenatal or postnatal clinics Men who attended the health facility Health workers who work in reproductive health care clinics | thematic analysis | Interviews and focus groups | The contradiction between work and attendance at the family planning clinic, transportation costs, and the feeling of stigma caused by attendance at the reproductive health clinics are some of the obstacles to the participation of men in the family planning counseling program after childbirth | 338 |
Mapunda B [59] (2022) Tanzania | Exploring the men's views on participation in prenatal care and determining the factors involved in their participation | Mixed method approach | Antenatal care | Men whose female partners attended the antenatal clinic | Thematic analysis | focus group | The cultural factors and gender perspective, inadequate knowledge about antenatal care, factors beyond men's control, conflict in relationships between couples, and obstacles related to the structure of antenatal service were five factors that were identified as barriers to men's participation | 18 |
Okafor IP [60] (2022) Nigeria | Assessing the participation of men in maternal and child health and Exploring the barriers and predictors of men's participation in maternal and child health | mixedmethod approach | maternal and child health | Adult men who have at least one child under the age of 5 living together in the family | Thematic analysis | focus group discussion | Socio-cultural factors, lack of time for participation, fear of being stigmatized, the views of health workers, and costs related to maternal and child health care were among the most important barriers to men's participation | 11 |
Sakala D [50](2021) Malawi | Exploring the barriers and facilitators of men's participation in antenatal care and HIV testing | qualitative study | antenatal care and STI | women who attend ANC for the first time and their partners | Thematic analysis | ocus group discussion and interview | Social norms, gender perspective of antenatal care, peer's perspective, fear of HIV testing, and conflict between job commitment and participation in antenatal care were the most important obstacles to men's participation in antenatal care | 62 |
Forbes F [61] 2021 Australian | Exploring the experiences, attitudes, and beliefs of recent Ethiopian immigrant families living in Australia about men's participation in perinatal care | qualitative study | perinatal care | Ethiopian migrant men and women living in Australia and attended maternity care | Thematic analysis | interviews | Employment in the form of paid work, Restrictions the paternity leave, prioritizing earning over participation in care, and cultural and social issues governing families were important obstacles to men's participation in prenatal care | 13 |
Davis J [3] (2016) Pacific | Explaining the perspective of maternal and child health professionals about the benefits, barriers, and approaches to increasing men's participation in maternal and child health services | qualitative study | maternal and child health | Senior professionals in health sectors, UN agencies, hospitals, universities, regional NGOs | Thematic analysis | interviews | Social norms and cultural issues, difficulties in communicating the health system with couples before pregnancies, the physical environment of health service centers, the perspective of health center staff, and their heavy workload, were the important challenges of men's participation in maternal and child health care | 17 |
Sharma V [53] (2019) Nigeria | Exploring men's participation in mother and child health | qualitative study | mother and child health | Men whose wives or children had complications or died Community leaders Health providers People who were present when complications occurred for the mother and baby | Interviews and focus group discussions | Thematic analysis | The absence of female health workers, lack of medicine and equipment, distant health service centers, attitudes and behaviors of health providers, and, misbehavior of health workers were identified as barriers to men's participation | 58 |
Koffi TB [46] (2018) Togo | Exploring the perspectives to improve men's participation in future family planning programs in Togo | A qualitative study | Family planing | Married men include: professional workers, killed and unskillednskilled | focus group discussions | Thematic analysis | Fear of the side effects of contraceptives, concern about the potential threat of fertility, concern for the potential health risks of mother and child following the use of contraceptive methods, and misbeliefs about the use of contraceptive methods were the reasons why men avoid participating in family planning | 72 |
Dychtwald DK [63] (2021) USA | Exploring men's experiences and perspectives about supplementary nutrition programs for women, infants, and children | qualitative study | mother and child health | Couples who enrolled in the supplementary nutrition program for mothers, infants, and children | thematic analysis | interview | Barriers to men's participation in WIC were potential threats to men's pride, fear, and distrust of welfare programs, fear of mandating the participation of men, the unknown role of men in the WIC program, men feeling of being ignored, conflict of working hours of the WIC program with men's working hours, disclosure concerns arising from the relationship between the administrative environment and the WIC program, and Ignoring men in program naming | 16 |
Shongwe P [64] (2019) Eswatini | exploring the understanding of men's perspective on the acceptance of vasectomy and understanding the causes of their poor participation in vasectomy | Qualitative study | Family planing | The sample includes single and married men living in urban and rural areas | thematic analysis | focus group discussion | Ignorance, cultural beliefs, social issues, false beliefs were the barriers to accepting vasectomy | 54 |