Table 2.
Characteristics of included records
| Characteristic | No of records (%) |
| Year of publication | |
| 2000–2010 | 41 (17.0) |
| 2011–2021 | 200 (83.0) |
| Publication type | |
| Peer-reviewed journal article | 222 (92.1) |
| Grey literature report | 12 (5.0) |
| DHS/MICS/WHO reports | 4 (1.7) |
| PhD theses | 3 (1.2) |
| Country | |
| Bangladesh | 74 |
| Uganda | 72 |
| Tanzania | 43 |
| Zambia | 23 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 23 |
| Cameroon | 12 |
| Sierra Leone | 10 |
| Bolivia | 10 |
| Liberia | 9 |
| Timor-Leste | 9 |
| Afghanistan | 8 |
| Burundi | 7 |
| Gabon | 6 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 5 |
| Angola | 5 |
| Central African Republic | 2 |
| Vanuatu | 2 |
| Micronesia | 2 |
| Kiribati | 1 |
| Solomon Islands | 1 |
| Fiji | 1 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 0 |
| Tuvalu | 0 |
| Data source | |
| Primary | 133 (55.2) |
| Secondary | 104 (43.2) (62% DHS) |
| Both primary and secondary | 4 (1.6) |
| Methods | |
| Quantitative | 175 (72.6) |
| Qualitative | 58 (24.1) |
| Mixed | 8 (3.3) |
| Study methods | |
| Quantitative designs | |
| Cross-sectional | 169 (70.1) |
| Longitudinal (prospective cohort n=2, retrospective cohort n=1, longitudinal analysis of baseline/endline data n=2) | 5 (2.1) |
| Retrospective | 1 (0.4) |
| Qualitative methods | |
| Individual interviews | 26 (10.8) |
| Focus group discussions | 9 (3.7) |
| Ethnography | 2 (0.8) |
| Case study | 1 (0.4) |
| Combination of qualitative methods | 20 (8.3) |
| Type of violence studied | |
| Physical | 211 |
| Sexual | 163 |
| Psychological | 87 |
| Economic | 22 |
| Controlling behaviour | 11 |
| Language | |
| English | 239 (99.2) |
| Spanish | 2 (0.8) |
| Total studies=241 | |
Percentages not included for country and type of violence because some studies included data from more than one country and for more than one type of violence.
DHS, Demographic and Health Surveys; MICS, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys.