https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1795-9886
Abstract
Background
A significant number of girls in Ethiopia begin childbearing at an early age. Teenage pregnancy is the main contributor to maternal and child morbidity and mortality, and the vicious cycle of ill-health and poverty. However limited evidence exists about individual- and community-level factors affecting teenage pregnancy in Ethiopia.
Methods
This study used data from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). A total of 3381 (weighted) teenagers aged 15–19 years were included in the study. A two-stage stratified cluster was used. Data were analyzed using Stata version 14. Multilevel mixed effect logistic regression was used to identify factors affecting teenage pregnancy.
Results
Being 17 (AOR=9.26, 95% CI=2.67–32.04), 18 (AOR=9.53, 95% CI=2.97–30.04) and 19 years old (AOR=20.01, 95% CI=5.94–67.39), uneducated (AOR=3.83, 95% CI=1.05–14.00), primary educated (AOR=3.34, 95% CI=1.01–11.08), being married (AOR=70.12, 95% CI=27.55–178.4), and communities with a higher proportion of poor (AOR=3.86, 95% CI=1.80–8.26) were predictors of teenage pregnancy.
Conclusion
Age, educational status, and marital status from individual-level factors, and community wealth status from community-level factors were predictors of teenage pregnancy. The government should strive to improve female education, and fight against early marriage and sexual initiation.
Abbreviations
CSA, Central Statistical Agency; CDC, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention; EDHS, Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey; EAs, Enumeration Areas; FMOH, Federal Ministry of Health; GDP, Gross Domestic Product; ICC, Intracluster Correlation Coefficient; MOR, Median Odds Ratio; PCV, Proportional Change in Variance; SDG, Sustainable Development Goals; SSA, Sub-Saharan Africa.
Acknowledgment
We would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia for giving the EDHS dataset and authorizing me to conduct the research.
Disclosure
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest for this work.