Causes of teenage pregnancy in Uganda: a case study Busoga region

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigating the causes of teenage pregnancy in Uganda using primary data collected from 153 respondents using a self-administered online questionnaire. To achieve this objective a Pearson Chi-square test and logistic regression model was used to test associations between teenage pregnancy and any independent variable. Teenage pregnancy was taken as dependent variable, whereas demographic factor, social factor, economic factor and health factor were taken as independent variables. The finding from logistic regression revealed that Age was a significant predictor of teenage pregnancy with respondents aged 15-19 years are more likely to experience teenage pregnancy compared to those aged above 20 years (odds ratio of 2.79 & p-value=0.042). The study also found that marital status was a significant predictor of teenage pregnancy with respondents who are single are more likely to experience teenage pregnancy compare to Divorced (odds ratio 2.21 & p-value=0.049). similarly the study found that education attainment was a significant predictor of teenage pregnancy were respondents with postgraduate are less likely to experience teenage pregnancy compared to those with no education with odds ratio 0.99 and p-value= 0.050. Further the study also found that religion was a significant predictor of teenage pregnancy were respondents with on religion are more likely to experience teenage pregnancy compared to Anglican with odds ratio 1.31 and p- value 0.006. Finally the study found place of residence was also a significant predictor of teenage pregnancy were respondents from rural areas are more likely to experience teenage pregnancy compared to urban areas with odds ratio 1.26 and p-value=0.015. However other factors, such as poverty levels, family structure, cultural norms, access to basic needs access to contraceptives and knowledge about reproductive health were no a significant predictor of teenage pregnancy. It is, therefore, recommended that teenage girls should endeavor to complete their education, learn new functional skills, gain some work experience and design a future for themselves before starting a family.