TY - JOUR
T1 - Patterns and trends of contraceptive use among sexually active adolescents in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Nigeria
T2 - Evidence from cross-sectional studies
AU - Hounton, Sennen
AU - Barros, Aluisio J.D.
AU - Amouzou, Agbessi
AU - Shiferaw, Solomon
AU - Maïga, Abdoulaye
AU - Akinyemi, Akanni
AU - Friedman, Howard
AU - Koroma, Desmond
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Sennen Hounton et al.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Background: The benefits of universal access to voluntary contraception have been widely documented in terms of maternal and newborn survival, women's empowerment, and human capital. Given population dynamics, the choices and opportunities adolescents have in terms of access to sexual and reproductive health information and services could significantly affect the burden of diseases and nations' human capital. Objectives: The objectives of this paper are to assess the patterns and trends of modern contraception use among sexually active adolescents by socio-economic characteristics and by birth spacing and parity; to explore predictors of use of modern contraception in relation to the health system; and to discuss implications of the findings for family planning policy and programmes. Design: Data are from the last three Demographic and Health Surveys of Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. The descriptive analysis focused on sexually active adolescents (15-to 19-year age group), used modern contraception as the dependent variable, and a series of contact points with the health system (antenatal care, institutional delivery, postnatal care, immunisation) as covariates. The multivariate analysis used the same covariates, adjusting for socio-economic variables. Results: There are two different groups of sexually active adolescents: those married or in a union with very low use of modern contraception and lower socio-economic status, and those unmarried, among whom nearly 50% are using modern contraception. Younger adolescents have lower modern contraceptive prevalence. There are significant inequality issues in modern contraception use by education, residence, and wealth quintile. However, while there was no significant progress in Burkina Faso and Nigeria, the data in Ethiopia point to a significant and systematic reduction of inequalities. The narrowing of the equity gap was most notable for childbearing adolescents with no education or living in rural areas. In the three countries, after adjusting for socio-economic variables, the strongest factors affecting modern contraception use among childbearing adolescents were marriage and child immunisation. Conclusions: Addressing child marriage and adopting effective policies and strategies to reach married adolescents are critical for improving empowerment and human capital of adolescent girls. The reduction of the equity gap in coverage in Ethiopia warrants further studies and documentation. The results suggest a missed opportunity for maternal and newborn and family planning integration.2015.
AB - Background: The benefits of universal access to voluntary contraception have been widely documented in terms of maternal and newborn survival, women's empowerment, and human capital. Given population dynamics, the choices and opportunities adolescents have in terms of access to sexual and reproductive health information and services could significantly affect the burden of diseases and nations' human capital. Objectives: The objectives of this paper are to assess the patterns and trends of modern contraception use among sexually active adolescents by socio-economic characteristics and by birth spacing and parity; to explore predictors of use of modern contraception in relation to the health system; and to discuss implications of the findings for family planning policy and programmes. Design: Data are from the last three Demographic and Health Surveys of Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. The descriptive analysis focused on sexually active adolescents (15-to 19-year age group), used modern contraception as the dependent variable, and a series of contact points with the health system (antenatal care, institutional delivery, postnatal care, immunisation) as covariates. The multivariate analysis used the same covariates, adjusting for socio-economic variables. Results: There are two different groups of sexually active adolescents: those married or in a union with very low use of modern contraception and lower socio-economic status, and those unmarried, among whom nearly 50% are using modern contraception. Younger adolescents have lower modern contraceptive prevalence. There are significant inequality issues in modern contraception use by education, residence, and wealth quintile. However, while there was no significant progress in Burkina Faso and Nigeria, the data in Ethiopia point to a significant and systematic reduction of inequalities. The narrowing of the equity gap was most notable for childbearing adolescents with no education or living in rural areas. In the three countries, after adjusting for socio-economic variables, the strongest factors affecting modern contraception use among childbearing adolescents were marriage and child immunisation. Conclusions: Addressing child marriage and adopting effective policies and strategies to reach married adolescents are critical for improving empowerment and human capital of adolescent girls. The reduction of the equity gap in coverage in Ethiopia warrants further studies and documentation. The results suggest a missed opportunity for maternal and newborn and family planning integration.2015.
KW - Adolescents
KW - Childbearing
KW - Modern contraception
KW - Sub-Saharan Africa
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U2 - 10.3402/gha.v8.29737
DO - 10.3402/gha.v8.29737
M3 - Article
C2 - 26562143
AN - SCOPUS:84948800072
SN - 1654-9716
VL - 8
JO - Global health action
JF - Global health action
IS - 1
M1 - 29737
ER -