# Availability, acceptability and adoption of decision aids for HIV prevention and contraception for young people: a scoping review protocol

## TL;DR

This paper outlines a scoping review protocol to assess how available, acceptable, and used decision aids are for HIV prevention and contraception among young people.

## Contribution

The study introduces a structured protocol for evaluating decision aids tailored to young people's HIV and contraception needs.

## Key findings

- The review will assess the availability of decision aids for HIV prevention and contraception.
- It will evaluate the acceptability and adoption of these aids among young people aged 15–24.
- Findings will be analyzed separately for HIV prevention and contraception decision aids.

## Abstract

Young people face challenges in accessing information on HIV and sexual and reproductive health services, with corresponding suboptimal uptake. Decision aids can provide information and decisional support to improve young people’s engagement with health interventions. However, they have not been widely implemented among young people. The availability of different choices for HIV and pregnancy prevention means that it is important to implement interventions that facilitate informed choices for these methods. We describe a protocol for a scoping review that aims to explore the availability, acceptability and use of decision aids for HIV prevention and contraception for young people.

We will identify relevant studies from the following electronic databases from inception to current date: PubMed, Scopus and Global Health; and grey literature databases, namely medRxiv and Open Access Theses and Dissertations. Eligible studies will report on HIV prevention and/or contraception decision aids and be written in English. Data extraction will be done by two reviewers independently using templates, with discrepancies resolved by consensus. Analysis will be done narratively, and separate for HIV prevention and contraception decision aids. Analysis will also include determination of the suitability of each decision aid for use by young people aged 15–24 years. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews will be employed to present results.

This review does not require ethics approval. The findings from this work will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at local and international conferences.

This scoping review protocol is registered in Open Science Framework with Project DOI: 10.17605/OSF/IO/46YWG (accessible via: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/46YWG).