Determinants of modern contraceptive uptake following immediate post abortion counselling among 15-­‐24 year old clients, fhok 2014

Abstract

Background Globally, an estimated 43.8 million induced abortions take place each year of which approximately 5.6 million occur in Africa. The majority of these abortions in Africa are ‘unsafe’ and almost 60% are procured by youth. This is due to the bulk of unwanted pregnancies in this younger age group. Modern family planning methods use has greatly reduced ‘unwanted’ and ‘unplanned’ pregnancy .In spite of this, contraceptive use is lowest among adolescents. The main objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with modern contraceptive uptake among 15-24 year old clients following immediate postabortion counselling with the aim of identifying gaps in youth friendly reproductive health service delivery. Methodology This was a cross-sectional study: clients aged 15-24 years attending Family Health Options Kenya (FHOK) clinics for post-abortion services were recruited. Results One hundred and seventy four participants were recruited and their mean age was 23 years. More than half, 106(60.9%) adopted a modern contraceptive method. The majority (48%) accepted condoms, 25% adopted pills and 24% received injectable contraceptives while the remainder preferred intrauterine devices and implants (2% and 1% respectively). Seventy eight women (45%) feared that contraceptives would cause infertility, however, 157 (90.2%) were more likely to believe health information from medical practitioners. Immediate postabortion counselling was associated with increased uptake of family planning method (OR, 95% CI: 2.226, 1.171-4.231). Higher age group (OR, 95% CI: 2.10, 0.932-4.730) and previous delivery (OR, 95%CI: 2.79, 1.295-6.024) were also associated with greater odds of modern contraceptive uptake. Conclusion and Recommendations Post-abortion contraceptive counselling is important to increase contraceptive use. The teenagers remain unreached by most contraceptive services, thus require targeted strategies.