Use of contraceptives, high risk births and under-five mortality in Sub Saharan Africa: evidence from Kenyan (2014) and Zimbabwean (2011) demographic health surveys

dc.contributor.authorChikandiwa, Admire
dc.contributor.authorBurgess, Emma
dc.contributor.authorOtwombe, Kennedy
dc.contributor.authorChimoyi, Lucy
dc.date.accessioned2025-06-05T12:50:43Z
dc.date.issued2018-10
dc.description.abstractBackground: Increasing uptake of modern contraception is done to alleviate maternal and infant mortality in poor countries. We describe prevalence of contraceptive use, high risk births, under-five mortality and their risk factors in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis on DHS data from Kenya (2014) and Zimbabwe (2011) for women aged 15–49. Geospatial mapping was used to compare the proportions of the following outcomes: current use of contraceptives, high-risk births, and under-5 mortality at regional levels after applying sample weights to account for disproportionate sampling and non-responses. Multivariate risk factors for the outcomes were evaluated by multilevel logistic regression and reported as adjusted odds ratios (aOR). Results: A total of 40,250 (31,079 Kenya vs. 9171 Zimbabwe) women were included in this analysis. Majority were aged 18–30 years (47%), married/cohabiting (61%) and unemployed (60%). Less than half were using contraceptives (36% Kenya vs. 41% Zimbabwe). Spatial maps, especially in the Kenyan North-eastern region, showed an inverse correlation in the current use of contraceptives with high risk births and under-5 mortality. At individual level, women that had experienced high risk births were likely to have attained secondary education in both Kenya (aOR = 5.20, 95% CI: 3.86–7.01) and Zimbabwe (aOR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.08–2.25). In Kenya, high household wealth was associated with higher contraceptive use among both women who had high risk births (aOR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.41–2.11) and under-5 mortality (aOR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.27–2.16). Contraceptive use was protective against high risk births in Zimbabwe only (aOR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.68–0.92) and under-five mortality in both Kenya (aOR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.70–0.89) and Zimbabwe (aOR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.61–0.83). Overall, community levels factors were not strong predictors of the three main outcomes. Conclusions: There is a high unmet need of contraception services. Geospatial mapping might be useful to policy makers in identifying areas of greatest need. Increasing educational opportunities and economic empowerment for women could yield better health outcomes.
dc.description.sponsorshipConsortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA).
dc.description.submitterPM2025
dc.facultyFaculty of Health Sciences
dc.identifier0000-0003-4954-2225
dc.identifier.citationChikandiwa, A., Burgess, E., Otwombe, K. et al. Use of contraceptives, high risk births and under-five mortality in Sub Saharan Africa: evidence from Kenyan (2014) and Zimbabwean (2011) demographic health surveys. BMC Women's Health 18, 173 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-018-0666-1
dc.identifier.issn1472-6874 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1186/s12905-018-0666-1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/45075
dc.journal.titleBMC Women's Health
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherBioMed Central
dc.relation.ispartofseriesVol. 18; a173
dc.rights© 2018 The Authors. Open Access.This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
dc.schoolSchool of Public Health
dc.subjectContraceptive use
dc.subjectHigh risk births
dc.subjectKenya
dc.subjectMaternal mortality
dc.subjectUnder-five mortality
dc.subjectZimbabwe
dc.subject.primarysdgSDG-3: Good health and well-being
dc.titleUse of contraceptives, high risk births and under-five mortality in Sub Saharan Africa: evidence from Kenyan (2014) and Zimbabwean (2011) demographic health surveys
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Chikandiwa_Use_2018.pdf
Size:
856.47 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.43 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: