Factors associated with adolescent pregnancy in the Sunyani Municipality of Ghana

Asare, Bernard Yeboah-Asiamah; Baafi, Diana; Dwumfour-Asare, Bismark; Adam, Abdul-Razak

doi:10.1016/j.ijans.2019.02.001

Cited by 28 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…If a child sees the mother always collecting money or sleeping with different men, she will think that is the right or normal way to live. Like mother, like daughter [Teacher,M,9].…”

Section: Broken Homes As Risk For Early Adolescent Pregnancymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thirdly, we need soldiers in our communities to deal with girls who are seen late at night with men. [Parent,M,9] Only prayers because we have advised them like any other human being will do but it is not working. [Teacher,F,3] We need to pray and instill the fear of God in our children.…”

Section: The Fathermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A case – control study from the Sunyani Municipality in Ghana identified place of residence, socioeconomic status, and the adolescent’s occupation as main determinants of adolescent pregnancy [ 9 ]. Findings from a qualitative study among teenage mothers in the Ga East Municipality in Accra reported transactional sex, sexual violence and exploitation, and adolescent’s desire to command respect from the society as main reasons why adolescents became pregnant [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Decision-making preferences and risk factors regarding early adolescent pregnancy in Ghana: stakeholders’ and adolescents’ perspectives from a vignette-based qualitative study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Worldwide, over half of the adolescent pregnancies recorded are unintended. The decision to continue the pregnancy to term or to opt for an abortion is a constant dilemma that is directly or indirectly influenced by stakeholders and also by the wider social environment. This study aimed at understanding the perceived decision-making preferences and determinants of early adolescent pregnancy in the Jamestown area of Accra in Ghana. Methods A vignette-based qualitative study design was used. Eight focus group discussions were carried among various purposively selected groups of participants: parents, teachers, adolescent students who had not been pregnant before, and adolescents who had had at least one pregnancy in the past. The vignette was a hypothetical case of a 15-year-old high school student who had not experienced her menses for the past 6 weeks. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Results Lack of parent-daughter communication, the taboo on discussing sex-related issues in households and weak financial autonomy were considered to be the main contributing factors to the high early adolescent pregnancy rates in the community. Partner readiness to assume responsibility for the girl and the baby was a key consideration in either continuing the pregnancy to term or opting for an abortion. The father was overwhelmingly considered to be the one to take the final decision regarding the pregnancy outcome. Irrespective of the fact that the respondents were very religious, opting for an abortion was considered acceptable under special circumstances, especially if the pregnant adolescent was doing well in school. Conclusion Inadequate and inappropriate communication practices around sexuality issues, as well as weak financial autonomy are the major predictors of early adolescent pregnancy in this community. The father is perceived to be the main decision maker regarding a young adolescent’s pregnancy outcome. Policy-makers should carefully evaluate the implications of this overwhelming perceived desire for the father to be the final decision-maker regarding adolescent pregnancy outcomes in this community.

show abstract

“…If a child sees the mother always collecting money or sleeping with different men, she will think that is the right or normal way to live. Like mother, like daughter [Teacher,M,9].…”

Section: Broken Homes As Risk For Early Adolescent Pregnancymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Fathermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Decision-making preferences and risk factors regarding early adolescent pregnancy in Ghana: stakeholders’ and adolescents’ perspectives from a vignette-based qualitative study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Given the importance of contraceptives in the promotion of overall health of women, including adolescents, several studies in sub-Saharan Africa have investigated the possible influences that could affect its use based on the awareness and attitudes that predict pregnancy [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. Some research works have recognized sexuality knowledge, attitude, behavior, and healthcare availability and suitability as general factors for adolescents’ pregnancy [ 24 , 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking Female Adolescents’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Use of Contraceptives to Adolescent Pregnancy in Ghana: A Baseline Data for Developing Sexuality Education Programmes

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

(1) Background: Nearly one out of ten Ghanaian female adolescents aged 15–19 has experienced childbearing in urban settlements compared to twice this number in the rural populations due to unintended pregnancies. This study assessed the linkages between knowledge, attitudes, and use of contraceptives and adolescent pregnancy in one of the highly affected Municipalities (i.e., Komenda-Edina-Eguafo Abrem [KEEA]) in Ghana. (2) Methods: Employing a facility-based sampling method, 378 female adolescents aged 15–19 were selected. Unadjusted odds ratio (uOR) and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) at 95% confidence intervals (CI) and p-values were used for significant variables at p < 0.05. (3) Results: Pregnant adolescents were 2 times more likely to indicate that the procedure of procuring contraceptives is quite uncomfortable (aOR = 2.42, 95% CI = [1.29–4.55]; p = 0.006). Also, pregnant adolescents were 5 times more likely to have ever used traditional contraceptive methods than their non-pregnant counterparts (aOR = 5.02, 95% CI = [2.60–9.71]; p < 0.001). On the contrary, pregnant adolescents had lower odds of indicating that contraceptives are for only married people (aOR = 0.38, 95% CI = [0.20–0.70]; p = 0.002) and that it feels bad to receive contraceptive information from parents and relatives than non-pregnant adolescents (aOR = 0.42, 95% CI = [0.24–0.74]; p = 0.003). Pregnant adolescents were less likely to use modern contraceptives than their non-pregnant adolescents (aOR = 0.18, 95% CI = [0.11–0.31]; p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: The findings indicate that female adolescents’ use of traditional contraceptives is associated with the risk of pregnancy in KEEA Municipality within the Central Region of Ghana. However, adolescents who had the perception that contraceptives are for married people and those who used modern contraceptives were less likely to get pregnant. Government and non-governmental organizations in Ghana should implement educational policies and programmes aimed at educating sexually-active female adolescents on modern contraceptives and the need to use them to prevent pregnancies. The basis for such policies and programmes should be based on evidence that compared to traditional contraceptives, modern contraceptives are more effective. In addition, there is the need to provide accurate information regarding the use of contraceptives to adolescents that will help change their attitudes towards the use of contraceptives.

show abstract

“…A plethora of studies has attempted to understand the determinants of pregnancy in Africa among teenage girls. Studies have shown that economic factors such as poverty discourage caregivers from ensuring that their teenage girls are exposed to life choices, rendering them vulnerable to unintended pregnancies ( Atuyamba, Mirembe, Johansson Kirumira and Faxelid, 2005 ; Cooke et al., 2016 ; Asare et al., 2019 ). Besides, numerous studies have revealed socio-cultural factors such as unequal gender power control, early marriage, adverse cultural beliefs and practices, religion, insufficient or lack of sex education at home and school, and coercive sexual relations as factors that predispose adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa to teenage pregnancy ( Gyan, 2013 ; Krugu et al., 2016 ; Faisal-Cury et al., 2017 ; Krugu et al., 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between accurate knowledge on HIV/AIDS transmission and adolescent pregnancy in Ghana: A further analyses of the 2017 multiple cluster indicator survey

Adomako

Frimpong‐Manso

Munemo

et al. 2021

Heliyon

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The literature posits that HIV knowledge is associated with precautious sexual behaviour and practice. We hypothesised and investigated the association between knowledge of HIV transmission and adolescent pregnancy in Ghana, given that the relationship between HIV knowledge and adolescent pregnancy has not been extensively studied. Methods: We did analyses on 5836 cases (weighted as 5121) of 15-24 years old reproductive age women in the female dataset of the 2017 Multiple Cluster Indicator Survey. Adolescent pregnancy was operationalized as reproductive age women between 15-24 years who became pregnant before the age of 18 years. Accurate HIV knowledge was measured by computing the scores of correct responses on six questions exploring women's knowledge about HIV transmission. We accounted for sample design and weight before performing a Chi-square test of independence and Poisson regression. Results: The results indicate that having lower scores on the HIV transmission knowledge scale was correlated with a higher probability of girls becoming pregnant before their 18 th birthday. After controlling for the moderating effect of socio-demographic characteristics of the participants, we found that accurate HIV transmission knowledge loses its statistical significance in determining adolescent pregnancy. The factors that remain significant in the adjusted model were formal education status, household wealth, and region of residence. HIV transmission knowledge was statistically significantly related to adolescent pregnancy in the model after the education level variable was omitted. This observation was due to the significant effect of school education on other variables in the model. This result demonstrates that HIV knowledge has a major impact on adolescent pregnancy, but this effect is predicated by formal education attainment of the adolescent girl. Conclusions: Given the results, adolescent pregnancy issues can be resolved by the government and other development partners by adequately educating adolescents about HIV transmissions. Also, because they have the potential to reduce pregnancy among adolescents in Ghana, we recommend that programs and initiatives should address existing disparities in formal educational attainment and household wealth.

show abstract

Factors associated with adolescent pregnancy in the Sunyani Municipality of Ghana

Cited by 28 publications

References 14 publications

Decision-making preferences and risk factors regarding early adolescent pregnancy in Ghana: stakeholders’ and adolescents’ perspectives from a vignette-based qualitative study

Decision-making preferences and risk factors regarding early adolescent pregnancy in Ghana: stakeholders’ and adolescents’ perspectives from a vignette-based qualitative study

Linking Female Adolescents’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Use of Contraceptives to Adolescent Pregnancy in Ghana: A Baseline Data for Developing Sexuality Education Programmes

The relationship between accurate knowledge on HIV/AIDS transmission and adolescent pregnancy in Ghana: A further analyses of the 2017 multiple cluster indicator survey

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About