Factors associated with contraceptive use by method type in Uganda

Abstract

There is an extensive body of literature concerning contraceptive use by method type among women in Uganda. A questionable aspect however is whether the impact of factors associated with contraceptive use such as modern and traditional has remained the same in the recent past. The Uganda Demographic Health Survey (UDHS) data of women in the period 2016 was adopted to establish an understanding of this issue. Variations in patterns of contraceptive use by method type were assessed by socio-economic and demographic characteristics of women such as age, marital status, religion, source of information, education, wealth, fertility preference and place of residence and this was done by using a multinomial logistic regression based on a complex survey design. In the results, an upward trend in modern contraceptive use shows that progress has been made in this regard. Increased odds of contraceptive use by method type most especially the modern method across the study period were noted among women with primary and post-primary education, those in rural areas, those at the age of 25-29, women in the higher wealth quartiles and those who heard about family planning on radio (p < 0.019). Age, education and wealth index were found to have a significant relationship with the modern type on the multivariate analysis. The study however demonstrates variations in the impact of these factors across the study period. All the same, efforts towards enhancing contraceptive use by method type in the near future should focus on enhancing regular in-service training regarding reproductive health issues, expanding media industry in Uganda and updates on reproductive health issues.