To use or not to use Contraception: considerations of young women in comparison with older women in Urban Uganda

Not so much has been documented about use or non use of contraception among sexually active young women 15-24 versus 25-34 year olds. Most of the existing literature generalizes contraceptive use among all women. The purpose... [ view full abstract ]

Not so much has been documented about use or non use of contraception among sexually active young women 15-24 versus 25-34 year olds. Most of the existing literature generalizes contraceptive use among all women. The purpose of this study is to explore the considerations of contraceptive use or non use among young women in Uganda in comparison with older age groups. We hypothesized that these considerations for use or non use among young and older women do not differ.
The Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2006 dataset was used in this study. A sample of 5,028 women was used. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between selected independent variables and the outcome variable (current use of modern contraception).
Findings indicated that contraceptive use among younger women is much lower as compared to older women. The key drivers for use or non use were education level of the woman, partner’s education, wealth index and lifetime sexual partners. This study therefore recommends increased investments in education aimed at keeping young women in school.