1. Factors associated with pregnancy desire among adolescent women in five Latin American countries: a multilevel analysis
- Author
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L Cruz-Jimenez, Celia Hubert, Leticia Suárez-López, Lourdes Campero, Betania Allen-Leigh, and F Estrada
- Subjects
Latin Americans ,Adolescent ,Population ,Reproductive Behavior ,03 medical and health sciences ,symbols.namesake ,Young Adult ,0302 clinical medicine ,Pregnancy ,Reproductive rights ,medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Poisson regression ,education ,education.field_of_study ,030219 obstetrics & reproductive medicine ,Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys ,Marital Status ,business.industry ,Multilevel model ,Obstetrics and Gynecology ,medicine.disease ,Parity ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Latin America ,Reproductive Health ,Socioeconomic Factors ,Adolescent Behavior ,Adolescent Health Services ,Pregnancy in Adolescence ,symbols ,Multilevel Analysis ,Marital status ,Female ,business ,Needs Assessment ,Demography - Abstract
Objective To explore demographic, socio-economic, and reproductive factors associated with pregnancy desire among adolescents in five Latin American countries. Design Secondary analysis using nationally representative, cross-sectional data from UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). Setting Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, and Panama. Population Adolescents 15-19 years old who were pregnant or mothers (n = 4207). Methods Chi-square tests, simple linear regressions, and multilevel Poisson regression models were used to estimate associations between individual- and country-level factors associated with pregnancy desire among adolescents. Main outcome measures Desire for pregnancy among adolescents who were pregnant or had given birth in the last 2 years. Results The proportion of adolescents who reported they desired their last pregnancy ranged from 79.3% in Cuba to 37.6% in Panama; approximately half the adolescents in Mexico, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic desired their last pregnancy. The multilevel analysis shows that pregnancy desire was more likely among adolescent women who were less educated [prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.96-0.98], older (PR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.04-1.09), married or cohabiting with a partner (PR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.53-0.93), and had low parity (PR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.58-0.76). Conclusions Adolescents with less education, who are older, married or cohabiting, and with low parity were more likely to desire their pregnancy. These data constitute evidence that, in conjunction with qualitative and implementation research, can be used to better design services for adolescents so they can exercise their sexual and reproductive rights, and plan healthier and more satisfying futures. Funding All the databases used on the performance of this study are open access. We did not receive any funding for the present analysis. Tweetable abstract Parity and marital status showed the strongest association with adolescent pregnancy desire in five Latin American countries.
- Published
- 2018