Timing between age at first sexual intercourse and age at first use of contraception among adolescents and young adults in Niger: What role do education and place of residence play?

Abstract

Background: Low contraceptive use among women in Niger is one of main causes of early childbearing and unwanted pregnancies, which affect maternal and child health. Education and place of residence have been cited as factors affecting modern contraceptive use. Methods: We investigated the separate and joint effects of the place of residence and education on the time to modern contraceptive uptake among women aged 15-24 in Niger. The study used data from the second round of the 2016 Niger Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) project. Survival analysis was applied for 830 women. Results: Nelson-Aalen curves show that urban women had higher hazards of (and shorter delays in) modern contraceptive uptake as compared to their rural counterparts. Also, the higher the level of education, the higher the hazards of (and the shorter the delays in) modern contraceptive uptake. Findings from the multivariate (survival) analysis confirms these figures and provides the net effect of the place of residence on modern contraceptive uptake. Whether living in urban or rural areas of Niger, what matters more is the level of education. Conclusions: Family planning programmes concerning adolescent and young women should focus more on women with no education and those that are illiterate.