Low levels of modern contraceptive use and associated factors in the Western Balkans

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this research was to determine modern contraceptive use (MCU) and explore factors associated with MCU in the Western Balkans.

Methods: Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) data from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, including the datasets from Roma settlements, were merged. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess which factors were associated with MCU among married women aged 15–49 in the region.

Results: Among the 11,381 women surveyed, 13.75% reported MCU and 23.74% justified domestic violence. While bivariate analysis indicated that women who expressed justification of domestic violence were less likely to report MUC, this was not the case after adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Multivariate analysis showed that Roma were less likely than non-Roma to engage in MCU. Additionally, increased education, increased wealth, and urban residency were significantly associated with increased likelihood of MCU.

Conclusion: The results highlight the need for more attention from research, programming and policy communities in order to better understand and address the overall problematically low level of MCU and factors associated with low MCU. More efforts are needed to address the disparities in MCU among Roma women and women of lower socioeconomic status.

摘要

目的：本研究的目的是确定现代避孕药的使用（MCU）, 并探讨与西方巴尔干地区MCU相关的因素。

方法：收集了来自波斯尼亚-黑塞哥维那、科索沃、马其顿、黑山和塞尔维亚的多指标聚类调查(MICS)数据, 包括来自罗马人定居地的数据集。采用双变量和多变量分析方法, 对该地区15-49岁已婚女性中哪些因素与MCU相关进行了评估。

结果：在接受调查的11381名女性中, 13.75%的人认为MCU存在, 23.74%的人认为家庭暴力是正当的。虽然双变量分析表明, 认为家庭暴力合理的女性认为MCU存在的可能性较小, 但是在调整了社会人口因素后, 情况并非如此。多因素分析表明, 罗马人比非罗马人更不可能参与MCU。此外, 教育程度的提高、财富的增加和城市居民的增加与MCU发生的可能性显著增加。

结论：研究结果强调, 需要更多地关注研究、规划和政策团体, 以便更好地理解和解决总体上MCU水平低的问题以及与低MCU相关的因素。在处理罗马妇女和社会经济地位较低的妇女在MCU方面的差距需要作出更多的努力。

Keywords:

• Contraception
• domestic violence
• Roma
• Western Balkans
• women’s health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.