May 28, 2026
Global Literature on Female Genital Schistosomiasis and Male Genital Schistosomiasis: a scoping review protocol
- 1Bruyere Health Research Institute
- BHRI
Protocol Citation: Claudia Duguay 2026. Global Literature on Female Genital Schistosomiasis and Male Genital Schistosomiasis: a scoping review protocol. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.8epv5w7rnv1b/v1
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: May 28, 2026
Last Modified: May 28, 2026
Protocol Integer ID: 318129
Keywords: global literature on female genital schistosomiasi, review protocol genital schistosomiasi, including female genital schistosomiasi, female genital schistosomiasi, genital schistosomiasi, male genital schistosomiasi, substantial global burden of schistosomiasi, schistosoma haematobium infection, schistosomiasi, manifestation of schistosoma haematobium infection, sexual health morbidity, including genital pain, genital pain, transmitted infection, scoping review, analyses extension for scoping review, susceptibility to hiv infection, hiv infection, related complication, scoping review protocol, infertility, increased susceptibility, preferred reporting items for systematic review, global literature on g, evidence on g, systematic review
Abstract
Genital schistosomiasis (GS), including female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) and male genital schistosomiasis (MGS), is a neglected manifestation of Schistosoma haematobium infection. Despite the substantial global burden of schistosomiasis, GS remains under-recognized, frequently misdiagnosed as a sexually transmitted infection, and poorly integrated into health systems. GS is associated with significant reproductive and sexual health morbidity, including genital pain, abnormal discharge, infertility, pregnancy related complications, and increased susceptibility to HIV infection among women. Although documentation of GS has increased in recent years, the overall burden, morbidity, and scope of existing evidence remains unclear.
This scoping review aims to systematically map the global literature on GS, including both FGS and MGS, to describe the extent and focus of existing research, to identify critical gaps in the literature.
This protocol follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). A preliminary rapid review was conduced in PubMed in February 2026, to inform the scope, eligibility criteria, and search strategy. This scoping review will systematically search 5 academic databases including MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE, Scopus, Global Health, and CINAHL, using textword terms capturing terminology related to GS, FGS, and MGS. Two reviewers will independently screen titles, abstracts, and full texts, with disagreements resolved by a third reviewer. Data will be extracted on study characteristics, populations, and key findings. Evidence will be synthesized descriptively and organized into thematic categories.
This scoping review will provide a comprehensive overview of the existing evidence on GS, and identify priority areas for future research, improved diagnostics, and programmatic interventions.
Title
Global Literature on Female Genital Schistosomiasis and Male Genital Schistosomiasis: a scoping review protocol
Review Question
This scoping review aims to systematically map the global literature on genital schistosomiasis (GS), including both female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) and male genital schistosomiasis (MGS), to describe the extent and focus of existing research, to identify critical gaps in the literature.
Searches
This scoping review will systematically search 5 academic databases including MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE, Scopus, Global Health, and CINAHL, using textword terms capturing terminology related to GS, FGS, and MGS
Condition or domain being studied
Genital schistosomiasis (GS), including female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) and male genital schistosomiasis (MGS), is a neglected manifestation of Schistosoma haematobium infection. Despite the substantial global burden of schistosomiasis, GS remains under-recognized, frequently misdiagnosed as a sexually transmitted infection, and poorly integrated into health systems. GS is associated with significant reproductive and sexual health morbidity, including genital pain, abnormal discharge, infertility, pregnancy related complications, and increased susceptibility to HIV infection among women. Although documentation of GS has increased in recent years, the overall burden, morbidity, and scope of existing evidence remains
unclear.
Type of study to be included
Articles will be included if they report data related to GS, including FGS and MGS, in human populations.
Data extraction
From the included articles, the following data will be extracted from each paper into an excel sheet:
- Bibliographic information (author, publication year)
- Study characteristics (design, setting, year)
- Population details (age, gender, sex)
- GS type (FGS, MGS, both)
- Diagnostic method
- Key findings
- Notes
Extracted data will be synthesized descriptively and classified according to main conceptual categories, including:
- Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and pathology
- Association between GS and co-morbidities (HIV, HPV)
- Diagnosis of GS
- Treatment of GS
- Healthcare personnel training
- Community awareness
- Integration of GS into health systems – needs a definition – is this: treatment (rather than preventative chemotherapy); indicator within the health information system; diagnostic algorithms
- Social and stigma related impacts