Contraceptive Use in Ghana: What about Women Empowerment?

Ameyaw, EK; Appiah, F; Agbesi, CS; Kannor, P

Contraceptive Use in Ghana: What about Women Empowerment?

Ameyaw, EK

Appiah, F Agbesi, CS Kannor, P

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Publisher:: Scientific Research Publishing
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Advances in Sexual Medicine, 2017, 07 (01), pp. 44 - 64
Issue Date:: 2017

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ameyaw, EK https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6617-237X	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Appiah, F	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Agbesi, CS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Kannor, P	en_US
dc.date.issued	2017	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Advances in Sexual Medicine, 2017, 07 (01), pp. 44 - 64	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	2164-5191	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/127526
dc.description.abstract	Although contraceptive usage appears to be increasing in Ghana, 30 and 42 percent of married and unmarried women respectively still have unmet need for family planning services partly due to their inability to exercise their basic rights on fertility issues. Meanwhile, expanding freedom of choice and actions to shape women’s life is critical to how women can be autonomous about issues surrounding their fertility. On this premise, this study aimed at investigating empowerment status and usage of contraceptives among women in the reproductive age in Ghana. Methods: The study made use of the 2014 Ghana Demographic and health survey with a sample size of 9396. The outcome variable was contraceptive use whilst the main independent variable was women empowerment (measured by ability to decide on a woman’s own healthcare, large household purchases and visiting family members). Both bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regressions were carried out generating odd ratios to explore the association at 95% confidence interval. Results: The results indicated that women who were not deciding alone on their own healthcare were less probable to use contraceptives (OR = 0.92, CI = 0.80 - 1.07) as well as those who were not deciding alone on large household purchases (OR = 0.96, CI = 0.82 - 1.11) and visiting family members (OR = 0.63, CI = 0.93 - 1.25) at the bivariate level. However, at the multivariate level, higher likelihoods of contraceptive use were found among those who were not deciding alone on health (OR = 1.26, CI = 1.18 - 1.68), large household purchases (OR = 1.30, CI = 1.08 - 1.55) and visiting family members (OR = 1.32, CI = 1.12 - 1.57). Conclusion: This has inspired the need to intensify women empowerment interventions through mass media and all possible avenues in order to enhance reproductive health.	en_US
dc.publisher	Scientific Research Publishing	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Advances in Sexual Medicine	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.4236/asm.2017.71004	en_US
dc.title	Contraceptive Use in Ghana: What about Women Empowerment?	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	01	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	07	en_US
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.issue	01	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	07	en_US

Abstract:

Although contraceptive usage appears to be increasing in Ghana, 30 and 42 percent of married and unmarried women respectively still have unmet need for family planning services partly due to their inability to exercise their basic rights on fertility issues. Meanwhile, expanding freedom of choice and actions to shape women’s life is critical to how women can be autonomous about issues surrounding their fertility. On this premise, this study aimed at investigating empowerment status and usage of contraceptives among women in the reproductive age in Ghana. Methods: The study made use of the 2014 Ghana Demographic and health survey with a sample size of 9396. The outcome variable was contraceptive use whilst the main independent variable was women empowerment (measured by ability to decide on a woman’s own healthcare, large household purchases and visiting family members). Both bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regressions were carried out generating odd ratios to explore the association at 95% confidence interval. Results: The results indicated that women who were not deciding alone on their own healthcare were less probable to use contraceptives (OR = 0.92, CI = 0.80 - 1.07) as well as those who were not deciding alone on large household purchases (OR = 0.96, CI = 0.82 - 1.11) and visiting family members (OR = 0.63, CI = 0.93 - 1.25) at the bivariate level. However, at the multivariate level, higher likelihoods of contraceptive use were found among those who were not deciding alone on health (OR = 1.26, CI = 1.18 - 1.68), large household purchases (OR = 1.30, CI = 1.08 - 1.55) and visiting family members (OR = 1.32, CI = 1.12 - 1.57). Conclusion: This has inspired the need to intensify women empowerment interventions through mass media and all possible avenues in order to enhance reproductive health.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/127526