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Investigating the Post-Disaster Reproductive Health Challenges of Iranian Women: A Systematic Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2025

Elham Rajabi ,
Mehrdad Farrokhi ,
Fahimeh Ramezani Tehrani ,
Mehdi Noroozi  and
Hamidreza Khankeh
Elham Rajabi
Affiliation:
Health in Emergency and Disaster Research Center, Social Health Research Institute, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mehrdad Farrokhi
Affiliation:
Health in Emergency and Disaster Research Center, Social Health Research Institute, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Fahimeh Ramezani Tehrani
Affiliation:
Reproductive Endocrinology Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mehdi Noroozi
Affiliation:
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hamidreza Khankeh*
Affiliation:
Health in Emergency and Disaster Research Center, Social Health Research Institute, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran QUEST Center for Responsible Research, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, Berlin, Germany
*
Corresponding author: Hamidreza Khankeh; Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
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Abstract

Objectives

Disasters pose serious threats to people’s health, including reproductive health (RH); therefore, we conducted this study to investigate Iranian women’s post-disaster RH challenges.

Methods

This study was conducted as a systematic review, and all published articles until the end of May 2022 were selected by searching in international and domestic scientific databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, SID, and Magiran. The quality assessment of the studies was done using the Strobe checklist. We conducted this research based on PRISMA guidelines and analyzed the content by qualitative content analysis method.

Results

Twelve related articles were included (8 high quality and 4 medium quality). Based on these articles, factors affecting post-disaster Iranian women’s RH were divided into 2 categories: individual factors (physical injuries, psychological disorders, cultural and religious issues) and management factors (not prioritizing RH services in disasters, lack of supplies, suitable facilities and professional human resources, access limitation to RH care and services).

Conclusions

We must enhance post disaster RH status by adopting suitable policies and decision-making in disaster risk management. We should prioritize RH services during the disaster response phase, providing facilities, equipment, and specialized and trained human resources.

Keywords

reproductive healthwomenIrandisasterssystematic review
Type
Systematic Review
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 19 , 2025 , e17
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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