| dc.description.abstract | The broader objective of this study was to examine the correlates associated with teenage abortions in Uganda with evidence from the 2016 UDHS data set. Specifically, the study analyzed the demographic, social and economic factors that is age, current marital status, contraceptive use and intention, currently pregnant, current use by method type, wealth index, occupation status, current contraceptive method, highest education level and whether the teenager had ever used anything or tried to delay or avoid getting pregnant. The 2016 Uganda Demographic Health Survey (UDHS) secondary data was utilized in the study.
The study also concentrated on teenage girls aged (15-19) years given the definition of a teenager in Uganda, whereby using the 2016 UDHS data set, a sample of 1406 teenage girls was analyzed. It was found out that majority 871 teenage girls were of the age (15-17) years while 535 teenage girls were of the age (18-19) years.
The results also revealed that at univariate analysis, 2.84% of the total respondents had ever terminated a pregnancy. While at bivariate level, combining all the demographic factors (age, marital status, current contraceptive method) showed that they were altogether significantly influencing and predicting one’s likelihood of ever terminating a pregnancy with the p value (0.000<0.05). Social and economic factors (highest education level, occupation status and wealth index) were all statistically insignificant in determining whether the teenager had ever terminated a pregnancy. While at multivariate level, demographic factors which were significant at bivariate level were significant and the results showed that teenagers of the age (18-19), those who were married, living with a partner and those who were separated had a significant relationship between whether the teenager had ever terminated a pregnancy.
The researcher concluded by recommending that government and other partners like civil social organizations and NGOs should invest in teenage livelihood programs that aim at reducing teenage pregnancies. These include comprehensive sex education, HIV/STI prevention, youth development, service learning and abstinence approaches and also focus on improving the abortion law to cater for teenagers who contract mistimed or unintended pregnancies in Uganda | en_US |
