Individual, household, and community-level predictors of modern contraceptive use among married women in Cameroon: a multilevel analysis

Betregiorgis Zegeye; Dina Idriss-Wheeler; Bright Opoku Ahinkorah; Edward Kwabena Ameyaw; Abdul-Aziz Seidu; Mpho Keetile; Sanni Yaya

doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihab092

Individual, household, and community-level predictors of modern contraceptive use among married women in Cameroon: a multilevel analysis

Int Health. 2022 Nov 1;14(6):648-659. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihab092.

Authors

Betregiorgis Zegeye¹, Dina Idriss-Wheeler², Bright Opoku Ahinkorah³, Edward Kwabena Ameyaw³, Abdul-Aziz Seidu⁴, Mpho Keetile⁵, Sanni Yaya⁶

Affiliations

¹ HaSET Maternal and Child Health Research Program, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
² Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada.
³ School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Harris St, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
⁴ Department of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
⁵ Population Studies and Demography, University of Botswana, Private Bag UB 0022 Gaborone, Botswana.
⁶ School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Unintended pregnancy remains a major public health and socio-economic problem in sub-Saharan African countries, including Cameroon. Modern contraceptive use can avert unintended pregnancy and its related problems. In Cameroon, the prevalence of modern contraceptive use is low. Therefore, this study investigated the individual/household and community-level predictors for modern contraceptive use among married women in Cameroon.

Methods: Data for this study were derived from the nationally representative 2018-2019 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey. Analysis was done on 6080 married women in the reproductive age group (15-49 y) using Stata version 14 software. Pearson χ2 test and multilevel logistic regression analysis were conducted to examine the individual/household and community-level predictors of modern contraceptive use. Descriptive results were presented using frequencies and bar charts. Inferential results were presented using adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results: The results show only 18.3% (95% CI 16.8 to 19.8) of married women in Cameroon use modern contraceptives. Women's age (45-49 y; aOR 0.22 [95% CI 0.12 to 0.39]), education level (secondary education; aOR 2.93 [95% CI 1.90 to 4.50]), occupation (skilled manual; aOR 1.46 [95% CI 1.01 to 2.11]), religion (Muslim; aOR 0.63 [95% CI 0.47 to 0.84]), wealth quintile (richest; aOR 2.22 [95% CI 1.35 to 3.64]) and parity (≥5; aOR 3.59 [95% CI 2.61 to 4.94]) were significant individual/household-level predictors. Region (East; aOR 3.63 [95% CI 1.97 to 6.68]) was identified as a community-level predictor.

Conclusions: Modern contraceptive use among married women in Cameroon is low. Women's education and employment opportunities should be prioritized, as well as interventions for married women, ensuring equity in the utilization of modern contraceptives across regions.

Keywords: Cameroon; DHS; global health; modern contraceptive; multilevel; predictors; women's health.

MeSH terms

Cameroon
Contraception Behavior*
Contraceptive Agents* / therapeutic use
Female
Humans
Marriage
Multilevel Analysis
Pregnancy

Substances

Contraceptive Agents