Mental health services accessibility for women and men: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Mental and behavioral disorders constitute a serious public health problem and require adequate access among women and men for promotion, prevention and treatment of mental illness.

For the writing of this protocol we will use the guidelines of the PRISMA-P Checklist (Main Items for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyzes). This protocol was registered under the number: CRD42021243263. To this end, research will be conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL and ScienceDirect databases in search of cross-sectional studies that assess the prevalence of access to mental health services among women and men. All cross-sectional studies that examined the prevalence of mental health services accessibility among women and men will be included. The search will be conducted by two independent researchers who will identify the articles; they will exclude duplicate studies. Through a blinded assessment, they will select articles using the Rayyan QCRI application. The methodological quality of the included studies will be assessed by the Joanna Briggs Institute Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies. Meta-analyses will be performed according to the conditions of the included data.

For the development of this study, there is no need for ethical review, as this is a systematic review that will use secondary studies. The conclusions of this study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and condensed abstracts to key stakeholders and partners in the field. The database search is scheduled to start on May 10th, 2021. The entire review process is expected to be completed by August 30th, 2021.