Table 3. Summary of the Systematic Reviews.

Author, Year	Review objective	Review inclusion criteria	Population	Study design	Location	Databases searched	Relevant primary study Number	Total number of included studies	Synthesis method	Quality of included studies	Ref.
Abdulcadir et al., 2015	To review evidence on the safety and efficacy of clitoral reconstruction	Studies of any design that reported safety or clinical outcomes (e.g., appearance, pain, sexual response, or patient satisfaction), associated with clitoral reconstruction after FGM	Individuals with clitoral reconstruction after FGM	Case-control=3 Prospective cohort=3	Switzerland	PubMed, Cochrane databases	269	4	Narrative	II-2 Poor= 1 II-3 Poor=3	[15]
Berg et al., 2013	To clarify the present state of empirical research	Studies providing quantitative data on physical consequences with any study design, except qualitative studies, study design features	Women that were subjected to any type of FGM, and the exposed to FGM, classified as type I to IV according to the WHO modified typology	Comparative studies=21 Single group cross-sectional studies=7 Case series=5 Case reports=4	Norway	MEDLINE, African Index Medicus, British Nursing Index and Archive, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PILOTS, POPLINE, PsycINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and WHOLIS	5109	44	Statistical pooling	Low=29 Moderate= 5 High=6 Not applicable=4	[16]
Berg et al., 2014	To validate the results through additional analyses based on adjusted estimates from prospective studies	28 studies for prospective features, that is whether the women’s FGM status was assessed before delivery	Women’s FGM status was assessed before delivery	Prospective=7 Observational=21	Norway	The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions	Not provided	28	Statistical pooling	Low and very low	[17]
Iavazzo et al., 2013	To explore and analyze the clinical evidence related to the presence of infections in the practice of FGM	Studies reporting data on infection related to patients with FGM	Patients with FGM	Retrospective Study=2 Prospective Study=2 Survey=11 Case-control =1 Cross-sectional =3 Case report=2	Greece	PubMed and Scopus	1078	21	Narrative	Unclear	[7]
Berg et al., 2011	To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the sexual consequences of FGM	Women with FGM 9classified as types I–IV according to the WHO modified typology) and women without FGM	Women with FGM	Cross-sectional comparative (clinical-/ hospital-based) and =8 Prospective case–control=1 Purposive sampling=2 Cross-sectional comparative (community-based) =1 Cross-sectional comparative (cluster sampling) =1 Cross-sectional comparative (subsample of DHS) = 1 Case-control (clinical-/ hospital-based)=1	Norway	African Index Medicus, Anthropology Plus, British Nursing Index and Archive, The Cochrane Library, , EMBASE, EPOC, MEDLINE, PILOTS, POPLINE, PsycINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and WHOLIS	7515	15	Statistical pooling	High=2 Moderate =3 Low=10	[14]
Berg et al.,2015	To systematically review evidence for physical health risks associated with FGM	Empirical studies reporting physical health outcomes from FGM	Women with FGM	Case-control studies=3 Cross-sectional=30 Prospective=7 Based on the DHS=9 Retrospective cohort=1 Registry study=6 Unclear if prospective or Retrospective=1	Norway	The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, MEDLINE, Open Grey, Open Sigle, and OAIster	5109	57	Statistical pooling	High=10 Moderate=19 Low=28	[11]
Obermeyer et al.,2005	To provide a careful assessment of the evidence and suggest ways to avoid the pitfalls of research on the subject	The main criterion was whether the source provided new data on the association between female Female genital and health and sexuality effects	women who exposed and unexposed to FGM	Randomized controlled trials following an experimental design Prospective cohort studies	USA	MEDLINE and Sociofile	500	35	Narrative	Good	[12]
Berg et al., 2010	To conduct a systematic review of the consequences of FGM	Reviews and studies on experts engaged in FGM related work	Women with FGM experience pain and reduction in sexual satisfaction	Cross-sectional studies=15 case-control studies=2	Norway	African Index Medicus, Anthropology Plus, British Nursing Index and Archive, The Cochrane Library (CENTRAL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects), EMBASE, EPOC, MEDLINE, PILOTS, POPLINE, PsycINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and WHOLIS.	4434	17	Statistical pooling	Low=10 Moderate=5 High =2	[13]
WHO report, 2000	To identify primary data on health complications of FGM, with a particular emphasis on sequelae in childbirth, including psychosexual outcomes.	Original articles (or, exceptionally, a review of unpublished/not yet obtained data) in any language about humans _ about health complications of FGM or topics that are important to the health complications of FGM (e.g., vaginal atresia)	Antenatal complications and complications in early labor in women with FGM	Original data review papers and news original data was sub-divided into cases and case series, and comparative studies with groups compared or with cases and controls.	WHO Genena	MEDLINE EMBASE CINAHL Psychlit Sociofile SIGLE CAB Health ExtraMed Popline AHTRAG/HealthLink Hand search of key journals	422	67	Narrative	Unclear	[18]
Mpinga et al., 2016	To characterize over a 40-year period the scientific output on the consequences of FGM in African countries, the most affected region known for the high prevalence of FGM, and review data on the socioeconomic consequences of the procedure	Articles concerning the consequences of FGM	Women who had undergone any type of FGM	Cross-sectional=64 Cohort=16 Case-control=4 Qualitative studies=10 Case series=14 Social analyses=40 Economic studies=3 Simple reviews=28 Systematic reviews=2 Other (educational recommendations, reports of conferences) =17	Switzerland	PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, BDSP, Web of Science, PsycINFO, FRANCIS, Sociological Abstracts, WHOLIS, RERO, and SAPHIR	2470	198	Narrative	Unclear	[20]
Sripad et al., 2017	1) assess the state of evidence on the association between FGM and fistula, 2) conceptually map this association within broader social, political, and health systems contexts, 3) identify evidence gaps and areas for further research, and 4) develop recommendations for policy and programming.	Studies were selected for inclusion in the body of evidence exploring the association between FGM and fistula	Women who had undergone FGM and nurses, midwives, surgeons, and obstetricians, gynecologists, policymakers, opinion leaders, and community members	Observational =18 Systematic review=4 Other type =8	UK	PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, JSTOR, Brandeis Scholar, Population Council, UNFPA, and Engender Health	512	30	Narrative	High=40% Medium =43% Low =17%	[19]