COVID-19 and sexual reproductive health service utilisation among women of reproductive age in Zambia

Figures & data

Table 1. Percent distribution of women (15--49 years) who utilised SRH services or were pregnant by selected background characteristics, COVID-19 SEIA, 2021, Zambia.

Background characteristics	Frequency	Percent
Age
15–24	4,619	41.3
25–34	3,501	32.2
35–49	2,935	26.5
Residence
Rural	5,854	50.4
Urban	5,201	49.6
Marital status
Never married	3,899	35.3
Married	5,863	53.1
Formerly married	1,284	11.6
Education level
None	1,146	10.4
Primary	4,182	37.8
Secondary	5,010	45.3
Higher	716	6.5
Region
Central	1,028	9.3
Copperbelt	1,506	13.2
Eastern	1,330	12.0
Luapula	1,157	10.5
Lusaka	1,476	13.5
Muchinga	726	6.6
Northern	974	8.8
North-Western	835	7.6
Southern	1,039	9.4
Western	984	8.9
Employment status
Working	5,258	47.6
Not working	5,797	52.4
Awareness of COVID-19
Yes	10,588	95.8
No	467	4.2
Total	11, 055	100

Figure 1. Prevalence of sexual reproductive health outcomes in Zambia during COVID-19 period.

Figure 2. Trends in prevalence of women who missed antenatal care visits before and during COVID-19 period in Zambia (2007–21).

Table 2. COVID-19 and sexual reproductive health.

Background characteristic	Missed antenatal care visits (N = 1,523)
	N (%)	p-value
Age
15–24	77 (12.5)	0.004**
25–34	51 (7.1)
35–49	17 (7.0)
Residence
Rural	97 (9.7)	0.907^ns
Urban	48 (9.5)
Marital status
Never married	23 (9.9)	0.981^ns
Married	113 (9.5)
Formerly married	9 (9.9)
Education level
None	21 (13.0)	0.003**
Primary	67 (12.0)
Secondary	55 (7.9)
Higher	2 (1.3)
Employment status
Working	73 (8.8)	0.359^ns
Not working	72 (10.3)
Knowledge of COVID-19 prevention measures
No	47 (9.9)	0.827^ns
Yes	43 (9.4)
Perceived knowledge of COVID-19 treatment options
No	51 (7.5)	0.009**
Yes	38 (13.5)
Had medical condition
No	131 (9.5)	0.508^ns
Yes	14 (11.5)

 *** p < 0.001; ** = p < 0.01; * = p < 0.05; ns = non-significant.

Note: Percentage of women of reproductive age 15–49 who missed antenatal care visits by background factors during the COVID-19 period, SEIA 2021.

Table 3. Multivariate logistic regression analysis examining risk of missing antenatal care during the COVID-19 period among women of reproductive age, SEIA 2021, Zambia.

	Missed antenatal care visit
Background characteristic	Adjusted odds ratio (AOR)	p-value	95% CI
Age
15–24	1.0
25–34	0.55	0.045*	(0.31–0.99)
35–49	0.54	0.145	(0.24–1.23)
Residence
Urban	1.0
Rural	0.99	0.989	(0.50–1.99)
Marital Status
Never married	1.0
Married	1.22	0.596	(0.58–2.55)
Formerly married	0.49	0.317	(0.12–1.99)
Education level
None	1.0
Primary	0.98	0.962	(0.46–2.45)
Secondary	0.62	0.243	(0.28–1.38)
Higher	0.17	0.042*	(0.03–0.94)
Region
Lusaka	1.0
Central	0.40	0.094	(0.26–2.13)
Copperbelt	0.34	0.020*	(0.30–0.89)
Eastern	0.40	0.084	(0.29–1.94)
Luapula	0.24	0.013*	(0.43–0.81)
Northern	0.30	0.018*	(0.11–0.81)
Muchinga	0.24	0.023*	(0.36–0.67)
Northern	0.61	0.359	(0.17–4.51)
North-Western	0.35	0.071	(0.32–1.39)
Western	0.15	0.015*	(0.46–0.85)
Employment status
Not working	1.0
Working	1.00	0.974	(0.61–1.64)
Knowledge of COVID-19
prevention measures
No	1.0
Yes	0.90	0.677	(0.53–1.50)
Perceived knowledge of COVID-19
treatment options
No	1.0
Yes	0.84	0.009*	(0.68–0.99)
Has medical condition
No	1
Yes	1.14	0.808	(0.41–3.18)

 *** p < 0.001; ** = p < 0.01; * = p < 0.05.