FACTORS INFLUENCING CONTRACEPTIVE USE AMONG WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE IN KENYA

Abstract

Kenya has one of the most effective family planning strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Contraceptive awareness in Kenya is relatively high but the uptake is still low indicating that the unmet needs still exist. Kenya is one of the top countries in the continent with more than 52 million people and it’s one of the most populous nations in Africa. The goal of the current research was to pinpoint the factors influencing Kenyan women within the ages of 15 and 49 who use contraception. This research study relies on secondary data obtained from a cross-sectional study done by the big project Performance, Monitoring Accountability for Action 2019 survey. The National Council for Science, Technology, and Innovation (NACOSTI) and the Kenyatta National Ethics and Research Committee (KNERC) provided ethical approval for data collection and all participating counties were administratively responsible. The research project's sample included 9,477 women of reproductive age (WRA) from 11 of Kenya's 47 counties. It was carried out utilizing the multistage cluster approach. Data was analyzed using Stata 16.1 analysis software, which generated frequency tables and pie charts. Logistic regression was performed to determine the relationship between Modern Contraceptive Method (MCM) intake and its factors ,95% confidence interval and a 0.05 p-value were used to show the variable correlations. About 39% of the respondents in the survey were aged 15-24 years, more than half 53.4% of the women were married and 4.5% of respondents had no formal education. Women in the middle quintile of wealth had significantly higher (aPOR 1.3, 95% C.I. 1.04, 1.57, p=0.017) odds of using MCM than women in the lowest wealth class and rural respondents were substantially less likely to use modern methods of contraception (aPOR 0.8, 95% C.I. (0.63, 0.93, p=0.033) than urban women. In comparison to married women, single women had lower odds of using MCM (aPOR 0.5 (95% CI. 0.39–0.56 p=0.000), and Muslims had lower odds (aPOR 0.6 (95% C.I. 0.42, 0.89 p=0.010) of using MCM than Catholics. The provision of family planning (FP) services was shown to be less in NHIF-covered facilities than in non-NHIF-covered ones (aPOR 0.535 (95% CI 0.29, 0.98, p=0.043). In the 11 counties of Kenya, 43.2% of WRA utilize modern contraceptives, and 98.4% of respondents are aware of these options. Contraception use in Kenya is low although MCM awareness is high. Initiatives to be geared towards the 15–19 age group, those from lower socioeconomic classes and people who live in rural areas.