Table 1.

Search strategy.

Database	Search strategy
PubMed Central via NCBI	(“preconception care”(MeSH Terms) OR “pre-pregnancy care” (All Fields) OR “preconception health” (All Fields)]) AND (“awareness” (All Fields) OR “knowledge”(All Fields) OR “determinants” (All Fields)) AND [“Africa”(All Fields) OR “Sub-Saharan Africa”(All Fields) OR “Ethiopia”(All Fields) OR “Nigeria"(All Fields) OR “Ghana” (All Fields)] AND (“2000/01/01” (PubDate): “2025/05/31” (PubDate)
Scopus	TITLE-ABS-KEY[“preconception care” OR “pre-pregnancy care” OR “preconception health”) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY(“awareness” OR “knowledge” OR “determinants”] AND TITLE-ABS-KEY(“Africa” OR “Sub-Saharan Africa” OR “Ethiopia” OR “Nigeria” OR “Ghana”) AND PUBYEAR > 1999 AND PUBYEAR < 2026
Web of Science	TS=(“preconception care” OR “pre-pregnancy care” OR “preconception health”) AND TS=(“awareness” OR “knowledge” OR “determinants”) AND TS=(“Africa” OR “Sub-Saharan Africa” OR “Ethiopia” OR “Nigeria” OR “Ghana”) AND PY=(2000–2025)
AJOL	(“preconception care” AND (“awareness” OR “knowledge” OR “determinants”) AND (“Africa” OR “Sub-Saharan Africa” OR “Ethiopia” OR “Nigeria” OR “Ghana”))—no filters applied; all publication years included
Dimensions AI	(“preconception care awareness” OR “pre-pregnancy care knowledge”) AND (“Africa” OR “Sub-Saharan Africa” OR “Ethiopia” OR “Nigeria” OR “Ghana”)—filter: English language only; all years
Google Scholar	“preconception care awareness” + “knowledge” + “Africa” + “determinants”—first 200 results screened; duplicates removed; English only; all publication years