Factors Associated with the Timing and Number of Antenatal Care Visits among Unmarried Compared to Married Youth in Uganda between 2006 and 2016

Peninah Agaba, Monica Magadi, Franklin Onukwugha and Cyprian Misinde
Additional contact information
Peninah Agaba: Department of Population Studies, School of Statistics and Planning, College of Business and Management Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala P.O. Box 7062, Uganda
Monica Magadi: Department of Criminology and Sociology, Faculty of Arts, Culture and Education, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
Franklin Onukwugha: Institute for Clinical and Applied Health Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
Cyprian Misinde: Department of Population Studies, School of Statistics and Planning, College of Business and Management Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala P.O. Box 7062, Uganda

Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Antenatal care is an important determinant of pregnancy and childbirth outcomes. Although the youth disproportionately experience adverse maternal complications and poor pregnancy outcomes, including maternal mortality, timely and frequent use of antenatal care services among unmarried youth in Uganda remains low. This study examines the factors that are important predictors of the use of antenatal health care services among unmarried and married youth. Binary logistic regression was conducted on the pooled data of the 2006, 2011 and 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Surveys among youth who had given birth within five years before each survey to examine the predictors of ANC use. This analysis was among a sample of 764 unmarried, compared to 5176 married youth aged 15–24 years. Overall, married youth were more likely to have more frequent antenatal care visits (56% versus 53%) and start antenatal care early (27% versus 23%) than unmarried youth. Factors significantly associated with use of antenatal care in the first trimester were education and occupation among unmarried youth, and place of residence and access to the radio among married youth. Key predictors of ANC frequency among unmarried youth were parity, education level, pregnancy desire, age group, sex of head of household and region of residence. Among married youth, significant predictors of ANC frequency were parity, pregnancy desire, occupation, access to the radio and region of residence. These findings will help inform health-care programmers and policy makers in initiating appropriate policies and programs for ensuring optimal ANC use for all that could guarantee universal maternal health-care coverage to enable Uganda to achieve the SDG3.

Keywords: antenatal care; unmarried youth; binary logistic regression; Uganda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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