Modelling Determinants of Contraception Use in Women in Rural Households in Kenya

Abstract

In recent times, there has been an exponential growth of the human population currently standing at 7.6 billion. There has been an increase in contraception which entails pregnancy prevention by inhibiting the normal process of ovulation, fertilization, and implantation (Lasong et al., 2019). However, contraception is not embraced and adopted by all women of childbearing age, which contributes to uncontrolled population growth due to an increase in unintended pregnancies. Contraceptive use in rural areas is low compared to urban areas in Kenya . Low contraceptives use in the rural setting translates to high population growth, which leads to poverty as the inhabitants’ strain to acquire the basic necessities, including water, food, and decent clothing. There is a need to enhance increased awareness about contraceptives in rural areas to address the negative outcomes associated with early and unwanted pregnancies. The intervention is bound to help the women in the rural setting overcome challenges in meeting health and socio-economics needs while accelerating development, as witnessed in most urban settings in Kenya. The project aims to study the determinants of contraception use in women in rural households in Kenya. The study has utilized secondary data from the 2014 Kenya demographic Health Survey (KDHS). The binary logistic model is used for the analysis of data in the study. The study has also focused on comparing contraceptive use among teenage girls and adults. The backward selection method allowed for dropping of non-significant variables and retaining of significant variables in the model. The findings show the variables that were associated with the outcome variable were; age in 10-year brackets, age at first birth, highest education level, age at first sex, religion, household size, literacy level, wealth index, number of children ever born, gender of head of the household and marital status. Results reveal that women who were young adults (25-34) years were less likely to use contraceptives compared to the Adolescent Girls and Young Women (15-24) years. The study findings inform the policy interventions geared towards creating awareness to boost contraceptives use among women in the rural setting of Kenya. The study recommends the efforts to empower women to be more self-reliant, which will ensure they can access contraceptives without challenges.