Domestic violence: a hidden barrier to contraceptive use among women in Nigeria

Figures & data

Table 1 Description of the sample population (NDHS 2013)

Variables	Description	n (22,275)	%
Age (mean/SD)	(31.33/8.26)
15–19	Age of the respondent in the interview year	1665	7.5
20–24		3573	16.0
25–29		4836	21.7
30–34		3974	17.8
35–39		3321	14.9
40–44		2480	11.1
45–49		2426	10.9
Residency type	Whether the respondent is a rural or urban resident
Urban		8128	36.5
Rural		14,147	63.5
Religion	Type of religious affiliation
Christian		11,732	52.7
Islam		10,195	45.8
Other		348	1.6
Educational attainment	Highest level of formal education attained by the respondent
Nil		9417	42.3
Primary		4659	20.9
Secondary		6340	28.5
Higher		1859	8.3
Employed	Current employment status for payment
No		6464	29.0
Yes		15,811	71.0
Wealth index	Index of relative wealth status of households based on the possession of durable goods (eg, refrigerator and TV) and building material (eg, concrete and wooden), rather than personal income
Poorest		4397	19.7
Poorer		4679	21.0
Middle		4404	19.8
Richer		4448	20.0
Richest		4347	19.5
Sex of household head	Sex of the person responsible for managing the household and making key decisions
Male		19,231	86.3
Female		3044	13.7
Decision maker for own health care	Whether the respondent can make her health care decisions independently, or jointly with husband, or has no say at all
Respondent alone		1392	6.6
Respondent and husband/partner		7274	34.7
Husband alone/other		12,217	58.7

Abbreviation: NDHS, Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.

Table 2 Basic characteristics of the sample population stratified by contraception use status (NDHS 2013)

Variables (mean, SD)	Nonuser (84%)	User (16%)	p-value
Age			0.003
15–19	9.5 (8.8, 10.2)	1.1 (0.8, 1.6)
20–24	17.6 (16.9, 18.3)	10.2 (9.1, 11.4)
25–29	21.9 (21.1, 22.6)	21.9 (20.3, 23.7)
30–34	16.7 (16.1, 17.4)	23.1 (21.5, 24.9)
35–39	13.5 (12.9, 14.1)	20.3 (18.6, 22.0)
40–44	10.0 (9.6, 10.5)	15.3 (14.0, 16.8)
45–49	10.8 (10.2, 11.4)	8.0 (6.9, 9.2)
Residency type			<0.001
Urban	33.5 (31.7, 35.3)	65.0 (61.5, 68.4)
Rural	66.5 (64.7, 68.3)	35.0 (31.6, 38.5)
Religious affiliation			<0.001
Christian	35.7 (33.6, 37.9)	75.6 (72.7, 78.4)
Islam	62.6 (60.3, 64.8)	23.4 (20.7, 26.3)
Other	1.7 (1.3, 2.3)	1.0 (0.7, 1.5)
Educational attainment			<0.001
Nil	51.6 (49.5, 53.7)	7.5 (6.4, 8.8)
Primary	18.7 (17.6, 19.8)	24.1 (21.9, 26.5)
Secondary	23.7 (22.3, 25.1)	50.9 (48.2, 53.7)
Higher	6.1 (5.4, 6.8)	17.4 (15.2, 19.9)
Employed			<0.001
No	32.6 (31.1, 34.0)	15.5 (13.7, 17.4)
Yes	67.4 (66.0, 68.9)	84.5 (82.6, 86.3)
Wealth index			<0.001
Poorest	24.6 (22.2, 27.1)	2.2 (1.6, 3.1)
Poorer	23.3 (21.8, 25.0)	6.4 (5.1, 8.0)
Middle	18.9 (17.5, 20.4)	16.0 (13.9, 18.3)
Richer	17.4 (16.1, 18.7)	28.9 (26.3, 31.6)
Richest	15.8 (14.5, 17.2)	46.5 (43.0, 50.0)
Sex of household head			<0.001
Male	87.9 (87.1, 88.6)	84.9 (83.2, 86.4)
Female	12.1 (11.4, 12.9)	15.1 (13.6, 16.8)
Decision maker for own health care			<0.001
Respondent alone	5.1 (4.6, 5.5)	13.4 (11.8, 15.3)
Respondent and husband/partner	30.1 (28.8, 31.5)	55.9 (53.6, 58.2)
Husband alone/other	64.5 (63.0, 66.0)	30.7 (28.4, 32.4)

Abbreviation: NDHS, Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.

Table 3 Prevalence of ever experiencing psychological and physical violence by partners/husbands (NDHS 2013)

Type of IPV	Categories	Individual prevalence (95% CI)	Combined prevalence (95% CI)
Psychological	Ever been humiliated by husband/partner	10.8 (10.1–11.5)	19.0 (18.0–20.1)
	Ever been threatened with harm by husband/partner	5.9 (5.4–6.5)
	Ever been insulted or made to feel bad by husband/partner	15.2 (14.4–16.1)
	Experienced any emotional violence	19.0 (18.0–20.0)
Physical	Ever been pushed, shook, or had something thrown by husband/partner	6.9 (6.3–7.4)	14.1 (13.3–14.9)
	Ever been slapped by husband/partner	12.9 (12.2–13.7)
	Ever been punched with fist or hit by something harmful by husband/partner	3.6 (3.3–4.0)
Both	Emotional + physical	23.7 (22.6–24.8)

Abbreviations: IPV, intimate partner violence; NDHS, Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.

Table 4 Regression analysis measuring the association between DV and contraceptive nonuse among Nigerian women (NDHS 2013)

Type of IPV	Unadjusted ORs (95% CI)			*Partially adjusted ORs (95% CI)	**Fully adjusted ORs (95% CI)
Psychological
No (ref)
Yes	1.741 (1.533–1.97)			0.839 (0.671–1.047)	0.936 (0.734–1.192)
Physical
No (ref)
Yes		2.086 (1.842–2.363)		1.269 (1.049–1.536)	1.275 (1.030–1.578)
Both
No (ref)
Yes			1.985 (1.771–2.226)	1.971 (1.521–2.555)	1.520 (1.132–2.042)

Notes: Reference category is “no.” ORs shown in bold are significant at p<0.05.

* Adjusted for other types of IPVs;

** adjusted for age, residency type, religious affiliation, educational attainment, wealth index, employment, sex of household head, decision maker for own healthcare.

Abbreviations: DV, domestic violence; IPV, intimate partner violence; NDHS, Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.