Abstract
IntroductionUnwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are the major problems in street women because of the non-utilization of modern contraceptives. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have assessed the utilization of modern contraceptives and associated factors among street women in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the utilization of modern contraceptives and its associated factors among street women.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study using mixed methods was conducted from February 16th to April 10, 2021, among all censuses and 615 reproductive-aged street women. Face-to-face and in-depth interviews were employed to generate quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the association between modern contraceptive utilization and independent variables with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic approach.ResultsApproximately half 279 (50.3%) (95% CI: 46.3%, 54.4%) street women currently used modern contraceptives. Factors significantly associated were women aged 25–34 years [AOR = 5.5, 95% CI: 1.2–24], distance from a nearby health facility within 30 min [AOR = 9.2, 95% CI: 1.6–51], getting advice from health professionals [AOR = 14.3; 95% CI = 5.3–38.4], discussed with their sexual partners about the utilization of modern contraceptives [AOR = 6.2, 95% CI: 2.4–16.5], a history of pregnancy [AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.2–6], the desire to have a child after two years [AOR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.1–4.7], and women who faced rape in street life [AOR = 5.4; 95% CI = 1.9–15.3]. Fear of side effects, misperceptions, and the desire to have a child are the main identified themes for the key barriers to using modern contraceptives.ConclusionThe proportion of street women currently using modern contraceptives was low. Age, distance from the health facility, discussion with health professionals, discussion with sexual partners, history of pregnancy, desire time to have a child in the future, and history of rape were factors significantly associated with the use of modern contraceptives. Most of the participants’ reasons for the lack of use of modern contraceptives were fear of its side effects.
Highlights
Unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are the major problems in street women because of the non-utilization of modern contraceptives
Street women are a segment of the population in absolute poverty, which they suffer from the major problems of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases
The findings of this study showed that the proportion of street women who currently used modern contraceptives was 279 (50.3%)
Summary
Unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are the major problems in street women because of the non-utilization of modern contraceptives. This study aimed to determine the utilization of modern contraceptives and its associated factors among street women. The prevalence of modern contraceptives among women of reproductive age has increased worldwide between 2000 and 2019 by 2.1% (55 to 57.1%) [2]. Reasons for this slow increase include a limited choice of methods; limited access to services, among young, poorer, and unmarried people; fear or experience of side-effects; cultural or religious opposition; poor quality of services; users’ and providers’ bias against some methods; and gender-based barriers to accessing services [2, 4]. Target 3.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls on countries “by 2030, to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, trends in contraceptive prevalence and need for family planning satisfied with modern methods indicate where increased investments and commitments by governments and international organizations are needed for the realization of reproductive rights for all people, and to help fulfill the pledge of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that “no one will be left behind” [3]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
