TY - JOUR
T1 - Teenage pregnancy and experience of physical violence among women aged 15-19 years in five African countries
T2 - Analysis of complex survey data
AU - Tetteh, John
AU - Nuertey, Benjamin D.
AU - Dwomoh, Duah
AU - Udofia, Emilia Asuquo
AU - Mohammed, Sheriff
AU - Adjei-Mensah, Evelyn
AU - Yawson, Alfred Edwin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Tetteh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Background Pregnant teenage women are prime targets of violence against women perpetrated by intimate partners, family members, and miscreants in their neighborhoods. This study estimated the prevalence of Teenage pregnancy (TP) and Physical Violence (PV) and further assessed the relationship between TP and PV in five Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Methods The study was conducted among five LIMCs (Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania) using data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in these countries. Modified Poisson with the robust standard error was used to quantify the association between TP and PV. All analyses adjusted for the complex survey design structure (clustering, weighting, and stratification). Results The analysis involved a total of 26055 adolescent women aged 15-19 years across the five countries. The overall prevalence of TP was 25.4% (95%CI = 24.4-26.4) with the highest prevalence occurring among Malawians [29.0% (95%CI = 27.4-30.7)]. Meanwhile, the prevalence of TP among older adolescents (18-19 years) was approximately two-thirds significantly higher compared with young adolescents [aPR(95%CI) = 1.60[1.49-1.71)]. The prevalence of PV among teenagers across the five countries was 24.2% (95%CI = 22.3- 26.2). The highest prevalence of PV was recorded among Nigerian adolescent women [31.8% (95%CI = 28.5-35.3)]. The prevalence of PV among adolescent women who were pregnant was approximately 5-folds significant compared to those who were not pregnant (adjusted prevalence ratio; aPR = 4.70; 95% CI: 3.86-5.73; p<0.0001). Conclusion There was a high prevalence of pregnancy among older teenagers aged 18-19 years. Close to a quarter of teenage women ever experienced physical violence. Pregnant teenage women ever experience of physical violence was very high compared to non-pregnant peers. Intervention should target PV and TP by adopting a gender-sensitive approach to eliminate physical violence, particularly among teenagers to prevent TP.
AB - Background Pregnant teenage women are prime targets of violence against women perpetrated by intimate partners, family members, and miscreants in their neighborhoods. This study estimated the prevalence of Teenage pregnancy (TP) and Physical Violence (PV) and further assessed the relationship between TP and PV in five Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Methods The study was conducted among five LIMCs (Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania) using data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in these countries. Modified Poisson with the robust standard error was used to quantify the association between TP and PV. All analyses adjusted for the complex survey design structure (clustering, weighting, and stratification). Results The analysis involved a total of 26055 adolescent women aged 15-19 years across the five countries. The overall prevalence of TP was 25.4% (95%CI = 24.4-26.4) with the highest prevalence occurring among Malawians [29.0% (95%CI = 27.4-30.7)]. Meanwhile, the prevalence of TP among older adolescents (18-19 years) was approximately two-thirds significantly higher compared with young adolescents [aPR(95%CI) = 1.60[1.49-1.71)]. The prevalence of PV among teenagers across the five countries was 24.2% (95%CI = 22.3- 26.2). The highest prevalence of PV was recorded among Nigerian adolescent women [31.8% (95%CI = 28.5-35.3)]. The prevalence of PV among adolescent women who were pregnant was approximately 5-folds significant compared to those who were not pregnant (adjusted prevalence ratio; aPR = 4.70; 95% CI: 3.86-5.73; p<0.0001). Conclusion There was a high prevalence of pregnancy among older teenagers aged 18-19 years. Close to a quarter of teenage women ever experienced physical violence. Pregnant teenage women ever experience of physical violence was very high compared to non-pregnant peers. Intervention should target PV and TP by adopting a gender-sensitive approach to eliminate physical violence, particularly among teenagers to prevent TP.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094843775&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0241348
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0241348
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33108400
AN - SCOPUS:85094843775
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 15
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 10 October
M1 - e0241348
ER -