Determinants of unintended pregnancy among currently married women in Uganda

Abstract

Unintended pregnancies may not be a problem to only teenagers or school-going children, married women in Uganda, as well experience similar pregnancies though little has been investigated on them. This study examines the determinants of unintended pregnancies among currently married women in Uganda. The study was based on data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey which comprised of 11,223 married women aged 15-49 years in Uganda. The investigations were made by socio-economic, demographic, and intermediate factors. The analysis was done using logistic regression, Poisson regression, Kaplan-Meier survival curves, log-rank test for survival functions, cox proportional hazards model, and the generalized structural equation model with logit and log link functions. Results show that 37% of the pregnancies were unintended and 3 in 10 married women had never used contraceptives to delay or avoid pregnancy. At the bivariate level, married women from rich households were less likely to experience unintended pregnancy (OR=0.45, p=0.000); those with secondary/higher education were more likely to have used contraceptives (OR=4.06, p=0.000) while married women from rural areas were more likely to have more children (IRR=1.35, p=0.000). Still, increasing age at first marriage postpones age at first birth (HR=0.85, p=0.000). At multivariate level, woman’s age, region, place of residence, religion, woman’s education level, wealth index, occupation, partner’s age, partner’s education level, age at first sex, age at first marriage, age at first birth, children ever born and contraceptive use directly or indirectly influence unintended pregnancy. In conclusion, young women, the poor, unemployed, those in the Eastern or Northern region, women residing in rural areas, women with no education and those with high parity were at a higher risk of unintended pregnancies. The study, therefore, recommends ensuring increased access to family planning methods, having improved household incomes, and providing free adult education as key preventive measures of unintended pregnancies.