Trends and determinants of contraceptive use among female adolescents in Malawi

Abstract

Adolescent childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa remains high, while access to and use of contraception is low. The aim of this study is to examine the demographic determinants of contraceptive use among female adolescents in Malawi. The analysis was based on the data from the 2000, 2004 and 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys to examine trends and determinants of contraceptive use among adolescents in Malawi. The study population comprised of female adolescents aged between 15 and 19 years. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to establish the relationships between socioeconomic variables and current use of contraception. The results indicate that majority of the female adolescents never used contraceptives. The use of contraceptive among female adolescent increased from 8.3% in 2000 to 8.5% in 2004 and 9.6% in 2010. The most commonly used contraceptives among female adolescents are injectable, male condoms and pills. Logistic regression results indicated that age, marital status, education, number of living children, sex of household head and told family planning at health center predict female adolescent's use of contraceptives. This study therefore recommended that programs and policies should pay attention to the significant predictors of contraceptive use in this study in order to increase contraceptive use among female adolescents.