Determinants of abortion among youth 15–24 in Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis based on EDHS 2016

Abstract

Introduction Determinants of the magnitude of abortion among women of diverse social and economic status, particularly in Africa poorly understood because of the missing information in most countries. In this study, we addressed abortion and its determinants among youth women of 15–24 ages to provide clear direction for policymaking in Ethiopia. Methods We examined the 2016 Ethiopian demographic health survey data downloaded from the EDHS website after obtaining permission on abortion among 15–24 age women. We applied bivariate and multilevel binary logistic regression. Community and Individual level abortion predictors passed through a three-level binary logistic regression analysis where we used p-value <0.05 and adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Result The abortion among the youth population in this study was 2.5%. Factors associated with pregnancy were age group 20–24 2.5(1.6–3.8), youth with one birth 0.65(0.44–0.96), youth with 2–5 births 0.31(0.18–0.55), age ≥18 0.50(0.33–0.76), married 38(17–84), divorced 20(7–55), birth in the last five years 0.65(0.44–0.96), middle wealth youth 1.7(1.0.4–2.8), being in Amhara0.31(0.11–0.85), and 0.30(0.12–0.77). Conclusion Less abortion occurred in economically poor youths. It is a noble finding; however, the access problem might lead to the result. We observed more abortions in age <18years; those have not given birth until the data collection date. It portrays forth clear policy direction for politicians and all other stakeholders to intervene in the problem. The analysis also showed abortion increased with age. It shows that as age increased, youths disclose abortion which is rare at an early age, and again given an essential clue for the next interventions. The fact in this study is both age and marriage affected abortion similarly. It might be because of various culture-related perceptions where it is not appropriate for an unmarried woman to appear with any pregnancy outcome as the reason behind the decreased number of abortions at a younger age. Thus, more attention is required during implementation for unmarried and lower age youth regardless of the magnitude of the abortion.

Pooled prevalence and associated factors of pregnancy termination among youth aged 15–24 year women in East Africa: Multilevel level analysis

“…The objective of this study was to examine the pooled prevalence and factors that affect pregnancy termination in 12 East African countries from 2008 to 2018 using data from recent Demographic and Health Surveys. The pooled prevalence of pregnancy termination in East African countries was 7.79% [95% CI: 7.54, 8.04] with the highest pregnancy termination in Uganda 12.51% [95% CI: 11.56, 13.41] and the lowest pregnancy termination was observed in Ethiopia 5.26% [95% CI: 4.39, 6.16].The finding was significantly greater than previous studies in Ethiopia (2.5%) [ 24 ], Nigeria (5.8%) [ 27 ], Sub-Saharan Africa (5%) [ 28 ]. This finding was lower than studies in Democratic Republic of Congo [ 29 ], Gabon (34%) [ 30 ], and Cote D’lvoire (16.1%) [ 30 ].…”

“…In Africa, unsafe abortion caused at least 9% of maternal deaths (or 16,000 deaths) in 2014 [ 10 ]. Previous studies revealed that maternal age [ 11 , 12 ], parity [ 13 , 14 ], occupation [ 15 ], age at first sex [ 13 , 16 ], marital status[ 17 , 18 ], place of residence [ 15 ], Media exposure [ 19 ], wealth index [ 15 , 20 ], education status [ 21 , 22 ] and region [ 23 , 24 ] were significantly associated factor with pregnancy termination.…”

Socio-demographic determinants of pregnancy termination among adolescent girls and young women in selected high fertility countries in sub-Saharan Africa

“…In SSA, previous studies on pregnancy termination among AGYW have identified socio-demographic factors such as age, ethnicity, parity, occupation, age at first sex, marital status, place of residence, and region as factors associated with pregnancy termination among AGYW [8][9][10]. These studies were done in countries with lower fertility rates compared to countries, which have higher fertility rates [11].…”

Are religious farmers more risk taking? Empirical evidence from Ethiopia

“…The Ethiopian context also supports the importance of distance to church/mosque in affecting religious activities, such as frequency of attendance to prayers and religious education. While most Ethiopians report the importance of religion (Gilano & Hailegebreal, 2021) and their daily life is linked to religious activities (Chaillot, 2002), our key informant interview with religious leaders indicate that the frequency of attendance to prayers and religious education (evening and Sunday schools), adherence to religious moral and commitment to the commandments is likely to be higher among members of households located closer to churches/mosques. When it comes to our sample of households, all belong to one of the three Christianity denominations (Orthodox (85.47%), Protestant (.24%) and Catholic (.61%) or Islam (13.68%).…”