Teenage Pregnancy and Its Associated Factors in Eastern Ethiopia: A Community-Based Study

Abstract

Background

Teenage pregnancy is a global issue raising concerns for all who are interested in the health and well-being of young women and their children. It carries major health and social issues with unique medical and psychosocial consequences for both adolescents and society in general. This study aimed at assessing the prevalence and factors associated with teenage pregnancy in eastern Ethiopia.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Multi-stage simple random sampling procedure was used to select 2258 female teenagers. Interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were entered into EpiData and analyzed using stata software. The Poisson regression model with robust variance estimation was used to examine the association of the independent variable with teenage pregnancy. An adjusted prevalence ratio (APR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was reported.

Results

The prevalence of teenage pregnancy was 30.2% (95% CI: 28.3, 32.1). Age 16–17 years old (APR=7.05; 95% CI: 4.15,11.96), 17–18 years old (APR=9.85; 95% CI: 5.72,16.98), not being in school (APR=2.83; 95% CI: 1.93,4.16), lack of formal education (APR=1.11; 95% CI: 1.03,1.19), being married (APR=3.59; 95% CI: 2.83,4.56), parental divorce (APR=1.24; 95% CI: 1.08,1.42), having elder sister who had a history of teenage pregnancy (APR=1.11; 95% CI: 1.02,1.21), and not knowing fertile period in menstrual cycle (APR=1.31; 95% CI: 1.16,1.47) were independently associated with teenage pregnancy.

Conclusion

One in three teenagers had been pregnant. Age, not being in school, lack of formal education, being married, parental divorce, having an elder sister who had a history of teenage pregnancy, and not knowing fertile period during the menstrual cycles were the factors associated with teenage pregnancy. In Ethiopia, further efforts are required in the prevention of teenage pregnancy, keeping girls in school and strengthening the policy of delaying child marriage, particularly in rural areas.

Keywords:

• teenage pregnancy
• associated factors
• eastern Ethiopia

Abbreviations

APR, adjusted prevalence ratio; CI, confidence Interval; CPR, crude prevalence ratio; EC, emergency contraceptive; HDSS, health and demographic surveillance system; MMR, maternal mortality ratio; PR, prevalence ratio; RH, reproductive health; TP, teenage pregnancy; WHO, World Health Organization.

Data Sharing Statement

All the analyzed data for this article are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgment

We would like to acknowledge Haramaya University for financial and technical support. We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the study respondents for their voluntary participation.

Author Contributions

All authors made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; took part in the drafting of the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; gave final approval of the version to be published; and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

In this work, no conflict of interest was declared by the authors.