Personal protective equipment utilization and its association with educational status among industry workers in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Introduction: Ethiopia is experiencing high prevalence of occupational morbidity and disability. One of the main contributing reasons is a low utilization of personal protective equipment (PPE). Previous studies on PPE utilization and association with educational status among industry workers were largely inconsistent. Therefore, this meta-analysis is aimed to pool the magnitude of PPE utilization and its association with educational status among industry workers in Ethiopia. Method: A compressive search of international databases and libraries including Scopus, PubMed, MedNar, Embase, MEDLINE, the web of science, Google Scholar, the JBI Library, African Journals Online, and Science direct will be carried out to locate published reports. Two independent reviewers will screen the records for inclusion using standardized JBI tools. Before extracting and synthesizing data, the selected studies will undergo a rigorous critical appraisal. If appropriate, a meta-analysis will be conducted. Cochrane Q-test and I2-test statistics will be used to assess the heterogeneity between studies. If necessary, meta-regression and subgroup analyses will be conducted to explore potential reasons for any inconsistency and heterogeneity. Sensitivity analysis will be performed to assess the effect of a single study on the pooled magnitude estimates. Funnel plots, along with Egger’s and Begg’s tests, will be used to assess the presence of publication bias.