The factors associated with the increasing teenage pregnancies in Uganda

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the factors associated with the increasing teenage pregnancies in Uganda. The study was guided by the following objectives; to find out the relationship between education-level and teenage pregnancies, to identify the influence of residence on the occurrence of teenage pregnancies, to analyze the impact of age on teenage pregnancies, to determine how region affects the occurrence of teenage pregnancies and to investigate the relationship between wealth and the occurrence of teenage pregnancies. This was a cross-sectional study employing both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the factors associated with the increasing teenage pregnancies in Uganda. This study also utilized secondary data collected in UDHS 2016. Data obtained from the UDHS 2016, was processed through editing, coding and entering it into computer for analysis. With the aid of Excel 2016 and StataSE 12, data analysis was performed at three different levels namely; univariate analysis, bivariate analysis and multivariate analysis using relative risk ratio, linear correlation coefficient, inferential statistics of ANOVA and multivariate regression to test the nature of relationship between and among the characteristics of adolescents across the different socioeconomic factors including: region, residence location, wealth, educational level, and age. The research findings revealed that; 25% of the Ugandan teenagers become pregnant by the age of 19. Close to half are married before their18th birthday and continue having babies into their mid-40s; Teenage girls who reside in rural areas were twice more likely to become pregnant. On the other hand, being in school was found to be protective against teenage pregnancy; Teenagers reevaluated their focus and educational attainment goals when they became pregnant, regardless of their earlier attitudes; Female teenagers from families with the highest quintile have a low risk of becoming pregnant as compared to those from families with the lowest quintile.