Identification of Indicators for Reproductive Health and Population Programs Monitoring in Iran

Given recent demographic changes, Iran has revised its reproductive health (RH) programs. To respond to the need for monitoring the new programs and policies, this study aimed to identify appropriate indicators for RH and population programs monitoring in the Iranian context.

A mixed-methods approach was applied which was conducted in four phases: identification of goals of RH policies and programs, a scoping review of the RH indicators, developing and ranking the identified indicators, and indicators' finalization. The final indicators were selected through consensus, with a cut-off point of 75%. Data was collected from June 21, 2020, until February 18, 2021. Data analysis was conducted simultaneously during each stage of the study. MAXQDA.11 and MS Excel 2017 software were used in the first and third phases for data analysis.  

A total of 37 RH indicators were finalized after three rounds of screening. The first five indicators with the highest score were: total fertility rate, population under 15 years, total population, population aged 65 years and older, and age-specific fertility rate. The lowest score was related to the recuperation index (degree of recuperation relative to fertility decline at younger ages).

The nature and number of indicators might vary at different organizational levels; so, the need to develop specific indicators is pivotal.