Determinants of Contraceptive Use among Female Adolescents in the Nabdam District of Upper East Region, Ghana

Introduction: Contraceptive use among female adolescents has been found to be associated with positive health outcomes such as reduction in unplanned pregnancies, reduced maternal and child mortalities. However, contraceptive use among female adolescents is still low in developing countries despite high fertility rates in young women. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the determinants of contraceptive use among female adolescents. Methods: A community- based cross sectional study was conducted among sexually active female adolescents. Using structured questionnaire, data were collected from a randomly sampled 324 adolescent girls aged 10-19 years. Data were analyzed using Stata version 13.1. Pearson Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact test were conducted at bivariate level and significant variables included in a single logistic model for regression. P-values of <0.05 at 95% confidence interval were considered significant. Results: Ninety-five percent of the participants showed some knowledge about contraceptives. However, the prevalence of contraceptive use was only 38.1%. The commonly used methods were injectable (56.8%) and condoms (39%). Reasons cited for non-use of contraceptives were; fear of side effects, lack of partner support among others. Age, marital status, parity, religion, partner/parent support, cost of contraceptive, peer influence and misconceptions were significantly associated with the use of contraceptives among female adolescents. Conclusion: The high level of knowledge about contraceptives did not translate into contraceptive uptake by female adolescents. There is the need for health professional to scale up health education on the benefits of contraceptives especially within the existing adolescent health clubs.