Health professional's data management practice in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: A global focus is producing high-quality data for use in decision-making at all levels of the health system. Healthcare professionals' data handling techniques have been the subject of numerous research, yet the findings have been wildly inconsistent in Ethiopia. This inconsistency has not been thoroughly examined, leaving a gap in reliable evidence regarding the overall magnitude of effective data management practices within the healthcare system of Ethiopia.

Objective: This review aimed to determine the pooled magnitude of data management practices amid healthcare professionals in Ethiopia.

Methods: We developed a search strategy and conducted a comprehensive search across PubMed, Web of Science, African journals of online, Ethiopian journal of health science, Scopus, Medline, Embase, WHO Global Health Library, Google Scholar, Scopus, HINARI, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant studies between October 10 and November 10, 2024. The Joanna Briggs Institute quality assessment methodology, which has nine categories, was used to evaluate each study's quality. Microsoft Excel version 2019 and Stata software was used to extract and analyzes the data. We calculated total heterogeneity across studies using the I² statistic and estimated the pooled rate of good data management practices with a fixed-effects model at a 95% confidence interval.

Results: In the first phase, 943 publications on data management practices of healthcare professionals were identified from multiple databases between October 10 and November 10, 2024. A total of 221 studies were excluded due to duplication, and an additional 705 studies were removed for being irrelevant to the outcome of interest. An additional 10 articles were excluded due to missing outcome data or unavailable full texts. Ultimately, 7 studies involving a total of 2654 health professionals were included in the meta-analysis. The overall pooled estimate of good data management practice in Ethiopia was 64.4% (95% CI, 52.27-76.47%). The subgroup analysis revealed the highest proportion in Gondar at 73.02% (95% CI, 52.33-93.70%), and the lowest proportion was observed in the Oromia Special Zone, at 53.62% (95% CI, 29.21-78.02%). Similarly, studies conducted before 2019 reported a slightly lower prevalence (63.60%; 95% CI, 44.76-82.45%) compared to those conducted after 2019 (64.91%; 95% CI, 49.13-80.69%). However, the subgroup analysis indicated that these differences were not statistically significant across study years or regions.

Conclusion: The pooled meta-analysis result revealed that approximately six out of ten healthcare professionals in Ethiopia engage in good data management practices, highlighting a significant improvement in this critical area. Although there were a geographical variations and study year, it was not statistically significant. These results underscore the need for targeted interventions to enhance data management practices. By investing in training, improving infrastructure, and fostering a culture that values data utilization, stakeholders can significantly elevate the standard of data management among healthcare professionals. Addressing these gaps is essential for strengthening health information systems and ultimately improving health outcomes across Ethiopia.