RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Use of dating sites and applications by women and their risk of sexually transmitted infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e038738
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-038738
VO 10
IS 11
A1 Janice França Queiroz
A1 Kleyton Santos Medeiros
A1 Ayane Cristine Alves Sarmento
A1 Michelly Nóbrega Monteiro
A1 Ricardo Ney Cobucci
A1 Beatriz Stransky
A1 Ana Katherine Gonçalves
YR 2020
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/11/e038738.abstract
AB Introduction The use of social networks has been increasing worldwide. Mobile websites and applications (apps) allow people to network more quickly and have more partners for sex. This can facilitate risky sexual behaviours, such as having multiple partners and unprotected sex, which can lead to a higher incidence of sexually transmitted infections. This systematic review/meta-analysis will assess the effects of the use of dating sites and apps by women on their level of engagement in risky sexual behaviours and their incidence of sexually transmitted infections.Methods and analysis The Cochrane Central Controlled Trials Registry, ClinicalTrials.gov, MEDLINE, Embase, SciELO, Web of Science, Scopus and Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature will be searched for cross-sectional studies, clinical trials and observational studies published between January 1990 and July 2020. This systematic review and meta-analysis will include studies investigating the use of mobile apps by women, risky sexual behaviour and sexually transmitted infections. The outcome will be an increase in new cases of sexually transmitted infections and HIV among women using dating sites and apps. Three independent reviewers will select the studies and extract data from the original articles. The risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and Risk Of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions. Data synthesis will be performed using Review Manager software (RevMan V.5.2.3). To assess heterogeneity, we will compute the I2 statistic. In addition, a quantitative synthesis will be carried out if the included studies are sufficiently homogeneous.Ethics and dissemination This study will be a review of the published data, and thus ethical approval is not required. The findings of this systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.PROSPERO registration number CRD42019120494.