Table 1 Inclusion criteria used to select peer-reviewed publications for the review

1

Publication written in English or French languages

• Database searches were conducted in English

2

Publication dates from January 2000 onwards

• Selected as efforts to strengthen HMIS [21] and uptake of DHIS2 [32] gathered pace during the 2000s

3

Publication describes a study conducted in at least one country from the United Nations SDG SSA regional grouping [33]

4

Publication describes a quantitative method(s) for estimating catchment areas and/or population denominators

• Publications describing the development of a novel method or implementation of an existing method were considered relevant, but methods must involve estimation or modelling as opposed to delineating or visualising empirically observed health-seeking flows

• Publications describing the application of similar methods as an intermediate step to testing associations between health service accessibility and outcomes were also considered relevant to the review

5

The method(s) associates catchment areas and/or population denominators with specific health facilities as the unit of analysis

• ‘Specific’ may mean the nearest or named health facilities

6

Children of any age are the/a specific population subgroup of interest

• Many health-related SDG indicators are targeted to a demographic subgroup as opposed to the total population [34]

• Several countries of SSA have expanded the set of child health services covered by free healthcare policies in recent years which, though the evidence is mixed, may have resulted in increased service utilisation and consequential growth in the volume of routine data [35]