Interventions for healthcare providers to improve treatment and prevention of female genital mutilation: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Studies on healthcare providers’ awareness, knowledge and attitudes regarding female genital mutilation (FGM) have shown a lack of awareness of the prevalence, diagnosis, and management of FGM. Our objective was to systematically review the literature on interventions improving healthcare providers’ capacities of prevention and treatment of FGM. METHODS: Systematic review of the published and grey literature on interventions aimed at improving healthcare providers’ capacities of prevention and treatment of FGM (1995–2015). Outcomes observed were knowledge and attitudes about FGM, medicalization, and prevention. RESULTS: Only two studies met our inclusion criteria. They reported on educational interventions aimed at increasing caregivers’ knowledge on FGM. One was conducted with 59 providers, in Mali; the other one with 11 certified nurse-midwives in the United States. The studies report basic statistics regarding the improvement of healthcare professionals’ knowledge, attitude on FGM and medicalization of the practice. Neither conducted multivariable analysis nor evaluated the training effects on the quality of the care offered, the clinical outcomes and the satisfaction of women attended, and prevention. CONCLUSION: As health care providers are essential in prevention and treatment of FGM, developing effective interventions is crucial. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1674-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.