Determinants of contraceptive use among sexually active unmarried adolescent girls and young women aged 15–24 years in Ghana: a nationally representative cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveThere is a decline in contraceptive use among sexually active unmarried young women in Ghana. This study assessed the prevalence of contraceptive knowledge and use, and the determinant of contraceptive use among sexually active unmarried young women in Ghana.DesignThis was a nationally representative cross-sectional survey, using data from the 2017 Ghana Maternal Health Survey. Weighted logistic regression was used to assess the association between background and obstetric characteristics of young women and contraceptive use.SettingGhana.ParticipantsA total of 809 sexually active unmarried adolescent girls (15–19 years) and young women (20–24 years).Primary and secondary outcome measuresKnowledge and use of both modern and traditional contraceptive methods.ResultsKnowledge of at least one modern and traditional contractive method was 99.8% and 95.0%, respectively. The prevalence of contraceptive use was 43%—with 34% modern and 9% traditional methods. From the unadjusted analyses, age (p=0.002), past pregnancy (p<0.001), abortion in the past 5 years (p=0.007) and history of childbirth (p=0.025) were independently associated with contraceptive use, whereas education (p=0.072), place of residence (p=0.702), household wealth (p=0.836) and age at first sex (p=0.924) were not independently associated with contraceptive use. In the adjusted analysis, contraceptive use was significantly higher among respondents with secondary education compared with those with primary education (OR 2.43, 95% CI 1.31 to 4.49, p=0.017), and was higher among respondents with a history of pregnancy (OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.48 to 3.06, p<0.001).ConclusionThere is a significant gap between knowledge and use of contraceptives among the study population. While intensifying knowledge of adolescents and young women on contraceptives, adolescent-friendly corners should be established at vantage points to increase utilisation and to prevent societal stigma on young women who access contraceptives services.

Determinants of Contraceptive Use at The First Sexual Intercourse among Unmarried Adolescents in Indonesia: 2017 IDHS Analysis

“…In the final model after adjusting with other variables, contraceptive use was higher among respondents with high education compared to respondents with middle and primary education (PR 1.51, 95% CI 1.09 -2.07, p=0.012). This finding is in accordance with another study which revealed that respondents with secondary education (Senior High School) possessed higher contraceptive use compared to those with basic education (Oppong et al, 2021). Another finding also discovered that women were less likely to use inconsistent condoms compared to primary, secondary and tertiary education.…”

“…The significant use of contraceptives among adolescents with higher education is due to the fact that they obtain correct information about the benefits of the usage of contraceptives. Education also encourages young women to determine greater consideration about their sexual and reproductive health (Oppong et al, 2021).…”

“…Health workers are admitted as a source of information expert, but sometimes, health workers own a negative perspective of contraceptive use among adolescents, which makes them feel uncomfortable in applying contraceptives (Mulubwa et al, 2021). The existence of regulations refusing adolescent contraceptive services because they are not married can also be an obstacle to contraceptive use (Oppong et al, 2021).…”

“…Adolescent contraceptive needs which have been fulfilled is a requirement to comply Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3.7 on reproductive health, which targets that by 2030, a widespread approach or use of contraceptive for all ages should be implemented to family planning (Oppong et al, 2021). Evaluating determinants in young adult contraceptive use is crucial for determining the fulfillment of preceding intervention efforts, monitoring progress on the target 3.7 of the SDGs, as well as for prioritizing destiny moves (Adedini et al, 2021).…”

A study on contraceptive prevalence rate and factors influencing it in a rural area of Coimbatore, South India

“…[ 1 ] Patel AA,[ 11 ] Gupta et al .,[ 13 ] Kumar N, et al .,[ 17 ] and Oppong FB, et al . [ 18 ] Improving education status can pave way to delay a women's marriage age, she will be able to seek a job and can help to change the attitude toward birth spacing and family size and empowers women to make a better decision.…”