Partograph utilization as a decision-making tool and associated factors among obstetric care providers in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Globally, a total of 13.6 million women have died due to maternal causes from 1990 to 2015. Majority of these deaths occurred in resource-limited countries. Among the causes of these deaths, obstructed and prolonged labor covers the highest percentage, which could be prevented by cost-effective and affordable health interventions like partograph use. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the level of partograph utilization among obstetric care providers and its associated factors in Ethiopia. METHOD: For this review, we used the standard PRISMA checklist guideline. Different online databases were used for the review: PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, HINARI, WHO Afro Library Databases, and African Online Journals. Based on the adapted PICO principles, different search terms were applied to achieve and access all the essential articles. Microsoft Excel was used for data entry and Stata version 11.0 (Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA) for data analysis. RESULT: Nineteen studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis with a total of 6237 obstetric care providers. The overall pooled prevalence of partograph utilization was 59.95% (95% CI 46.8–73.09, I(2) = 99.4%, P < 0.001). Being in midwifery profession (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 3.97; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.63–5.99, I(2) = 28.8%, P = 0.198), presence of supervision (AOR = 3.21; 95% CI 2.22–4.66, I(2) = 0.0%, P = 0.742), Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) training (AOR = 2.90; 95% CI 2.19–3.84, I(2) = 36.9%, P = 0.13), knowledge of partograph (AOR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.6–3.8, I(2) = 64.58%, P = 0.024), on-the-job refresher training on partograph (AOR = 5.7; 95% CI 2.5–12.9, I(2) = 87.8%, P < 0.001), favorable attitude (AOR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.48–3.04, I(2) = 0.0%, P = 0.58), and working at health center (AOR = 3.50; 95% CI 2.49–4.92, I(2) = 49.1%, P = 0.08) were the determinant factors for partograph use among obstetric care providers in Ethiopia. CONCLUSION: The overall pooled prevalence of partograph utilization among obstetric care providers was low. Therefore, supportive supervision, providing Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care training, on-the-job refresher training on partograph, and promoting midwifery profession are strongly recommended to increase the use of partograph. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary information accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s13643-020-01505-4.