Determinants of Unintended Pregnancy among Currently Married Women in Uganda

Ronald Wasswa, Makerere University School of Public Health
Allen Kabagenyi, Makerere University, Institute of Statistics And Applied Economics,
Leonard Atuhairwe, Makerere University

The study explored the impact of demographic, socioeconomic and intermediate factors on the risk of unintended pregnancy among currently married women in Uganda using the 2016 UDHS. The Generalized Structural Equation Model was adopted in the analysis of the data to establish the different relationships among factors. Despite, the prevalence of unintended pregnancy among married women being so high (44.6%), 30% of them were also not using contraceptives. Additionally, education level, region, wealth index, contraceptive use, children ever born and partner's demographic factors were some of the noted significant determinants of unintended pregnancy. Therefore, there is need to address the high prevalence rate of unintended pregnancy and the low contraceptive use among married women so that they can meet their child bearing needs, reduce on the government expenditure in health and generally to improve their well-being.