Factors influencing contraceptive use among teenage girls in Ghana: Analysis of Ghana Living Standard Survey 7.

Background

Modern contraceptives have proven to be more scientifically effective at preventing unwanted pregnancies than the traditional methods. However, there is dearth of evidence on teenage girls’ contraceptive use and associated factors in Ghana.

Objective

This study sought to examine teenage girls (15–19 years) contraceptive use and associated factors using a nationally representative data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey 7 (GLSS7).

Methods

The study analyzed data from GLSS7, involving 3233 15–19 year-old teenagers. Using a cross-sectional design, descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and multiple regression were performed to analyze factors influencing contraceptive use. Stata software version 16 was used, with statistical significance set at p ≤ 0.001.

Results

Out of a total of 3,233 teenage girls aged 15-19years, the majority were in the primary level of education (71.59%). Furthermore, more than two-thirds of the participants were Christians (75.83%). The results showed that only 12.87% of teenage girls reported current contraceptive use. Religion, type of residence, region, wealth index and marital status was found to have a relationship with modern contraceptive use. Also, majority of the respondents preferred modern contraceptive methods (85.60%) as compared to traditional methods (14.40%). The region was significantly associated with preferences for modern contraceptive use. Teenage girls in the Central and Volta regions had 88% and 89% lower odds of preferring modern contraceptive use, respectively as compared with those in the western region. Moreover, marital status was found to have a significant association with barriers to contraceptive use. Teenage girls that were not married had 88% lower odds of having barriers to contraceptive use as compared to those that were married.

Conclusion

The study suggests that the government through the Ministry of Health (MOH) should establish targeted community-based awareness campaigns and enhance access to adolescent-friendly family planning services to increase contraceptive uptake.