Socio-economic and demographic predictors of unmet need for contraception among young women in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from cross-sectional surveys.

Ahinkorah, BO; Ameyaw, EK; Seidu, A-A

Socio-economic and demographic predictors of unmet need for contraception among young women in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from cross-sectional surveys.

Ahinkorah, BO Ameyaw, EK Seidu, A-A

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Publisher:: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Reproductive health, 2020, 17, (1), pp. 163
Issue Date:: 2020-10-23

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ahinkorah, BO
dc.contributor.author	Ameyaw, EK
dc.contributor.author	Seidu, A-A
dc.date.accessioned	2021-05-24T00:18:13Z
dc.date.available	2020-10-15
dc.date.available	2021-05-24T00:18:13Z
dc.date.issued	2020-10-23
dc.identifier.citation	Reproductive health, 2020, 17, (1), pp. 163
dc.identifier.issn	1742-4755
dc.identifier.issn	1742-4755
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/149127
dc.description.abstract	<h4>Introduction</h4>Globally, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) bears the highest proportion of women with unmet need for contraception as nearly 25% of women of reproductive age in the sub-region have unmet need for contraception. Unmet need for contraception is predominant among young women. We examined the association between socio-economic and demographic factors and unmet need for contraception among young women in SSA.<h4>Methods</h4>Data for this study obtained from current Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2018 in 30 sub-Saharan African countries. The sample size consisted of young women (aged 15-24), who were either married or cohabiting and had complete cases on all the variables of interest (N = 59,864). Both bivariate and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were performed using STATA version 14.0.<h4>Results</h4>The overall prevalence of unmet need for contraception among young women was 26.90% [95% CI: 23.82-29.921], ranging from 11.30% [95% CI: 5.1-17.49] in Zimbabwe to 46.7% [95% CI: 36.92-56.48] in Comoros. Results on socio-economic status and unmet need for contraception showed that young women who had primary [aOR = 1.18; CI = 1.12-1.25, p < 0.001] and secondary/higher levels of formal education [aOR = 1.27; CI = 1.20-1.35, p < 0.001] had higher odds of unmet need for contraception compared to those with no formal education. With wealth status, young women in the richest wealth quintile had lower odds of unmet need for contraception compared with those in the poorest wealth quintile [aOR = 0.89; CI = 0.81-0.97, p < 0.01]. With the demographic factors, the odds of unmet need for contraception was lower among young women aged 20-24 [aOR = 0.74; CI = 0.70-0.77, p < 0.001], compared with 15-19 aged young women. Also, young women who were cohabiting had higher odds of unmet need for contraception compared to those who were married [aOR = 1.35; CI = 1.28-1.43, p < 0.001].<h4>Conclusion</h4>Our study has demonstrated that unmet need for contraception is relatively high among young women in SSA and this is associated with socio-economic status. Age, marital status, parity, occupation, sex of household head, and access to mass media (newspaper) are also associated with unmet need for contraception. It is therefore, prudent that organisations such as UNICEF and UNFPA and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation who have implemented policies and programmes on contraception meant towards reducing unmet need for contraception among women take these factors into consideration when designing interventions in sub-Saharan African countries to address the problem of high unmet need for contraception among young women.
dc.format	Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
dc.relation.ispartof	Reproductive health
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1186/s12978-020-01018-2
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1114 Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine
dc.subject.classification	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine
dc.title	Socio-economic and demographic predictors of unmet need for contraception among young women in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from cross-sectional surveys.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	17
utslib.location.activity	England
utslib.for	1114 Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Public Health
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-05-24T00:18:10Z
pubs.issue	1
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	17
utslib.citation.issue	1

Abstract:

Introduction

Globally, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) bears the highest proportion of women with unmet need for contraception as nearly 25% of women of reproductive age in the sub-region have unmet need for contraception. Unmet need for contraception is predominant among young women. We examined the association between socio-economic and demographic factors and unmet need for contraception among young women in SSA.

Methods

Data for this study obtained from current Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2018 in 30 sub-Saharan African countries. The sample size consisted of young women (aged 15-24), who were either married or cohabiting and had complete cases on all the variables of interest (N = 59,864). Both bivariate and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were performed using STATA version 14.0.

Results

The overall prevalence of unmet need for contraception among young women was 26.90% [95% CI: 23.82-29.921], ranging from 11.30% [95% CI: 5.1-17.49] in Zimbabwe to 46.7% [95% CI: 36.92-56.48] in Comoros. Results on socio-economic status and unmet need for contraception showed that young women who had primary [aOR = 1.18; CI = 1.12-1.25, p < 0.001] and secondary/higher levels of formal education [aOR = 1.27; CI = 1.20-1.35, p < 0.001] had higher odds of unmet need for contraception compared to those with no formal education. With wealth status, young women in the richest wealth quintile had lower odds of unmet need for contraception compared with those in the poorest wealth quintile [aOR = 0.89; CI = 0.81-0.97, p < 0.01]. With the demographic factors, the odds of unmet need for contraception was lower among young women aged 20-24 [aOR = 0.74; CI = 0.70-0.77, p < 0.001], compared with 15-19 aged young women. Also, young women who were cohabiting had higher odds of unmet need for contraception compared to those who were married [aOR = 1.35; CI = 1.28-1.43, p < 0.001].

Conclusion

Our study has demonstrated that unmet need for contraception is relatively high among young women in SSA and this is associated with socio-economic status. Age, marital status, parity, occupation, sex of household head, and access to mass media (newspaper) are also associated with unmet need for contraception. It is therefore, prudent that organisations such as UNICEF and UNFPA and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation who have implemented policies and programmes on contraception meant towards reducing unmet need for contraception among women take these factors into consideration when designing interventions in sub-Saharan African countries to address the problem of high unmet need for contraception among young women.

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