Assessment of factors associated with teenage pregnancy among women aged 15-19 in Teso region

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy and childbirth to women less than 20 years old continues to be a major global public health concern, affecting approximately 12 million girls aged 15-19 and in Uganda as of 2016 teenage pregnancy was at 25% with Teso having the highest percentage (26.2%). Thus the present study assessed factors associated with teenage pregnancy in Teso region using 2016 UDHS data collected by UBOS. The researcher sorted and selected variables related to the study from the data and analyzed it at univariate, bivariate and multivariate levels in STATA. At total of 368 women aged 15-19 years from the region were considered. Over 90% of the respondents were residing in rural areas, majority (76%) the women had only attained primary education, a high percentage (33%) were from poorest families, a slightly higher percentage (54%) were currently working and majority (71%) had never been married. About family planning and contraceptive use, almost all respondents had knowledge about family planning and modern contraceptives use though majority (89%) were not using contraceptives. On the aspect of teenage pregnancy, over the half of the respondents had their first birth at the age of 16-17, about 8% were currently pregnant. Thus teenage pregnancy was at 30% in the region. At bivariate, teenage pregnancy significantly depended on age, place of residence, wealth index, working status, current marital status and use of contraceptive use among teenagers. A binary logistic regression revealed a significant association between age, place of residence, education level and marital status with teenage pregnancy in Teso region where increase in one’s age, urban residence, less educated and ever married teenagers have high likelihood of getting pregnant in their teens. The study recommends the need for Government and other stakeholders like parents/guardians of teenage girls to advocate and encourage girl child education in the region and the country at large in order to reduce on early pregnancy among less educated girls and those no going to school. And more so, there is need for more strict laws on early marriage and force marriage in the country in order to combat increasing teenage pregnancies in the region and the country at large