Journal Article

Prevalence of short interpregnancy interval and its associated factors among pregnant women in Debre Berhan town, Ethiopia

Sharew, Nigussie Tadesse, Brhane, Kalayu, Mamo, Hana, Dagnaw, Abinet, Kotiso, Kehabtimer Shiferaw

2021

Overview

Short inter-pregnancy interval is an interval of <24 months between the dates of birth of the preceding child and the conception date of the current pregnancy. Despite its direct effects on the perinatal and maternal outcomes, there is a paucity of evidence on its prevalence and determinant factors, particularly in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study assessed the prevalence and associated factors of short inter-pregnancy interval among pregnant women in Debre Berhan town, Northern Ethiopia. A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among a randomly selected 496 pregnant women in Debre Berhan town from February 9 to March 9, 2020. The data were collected by using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using STATA (14.2) statistical software. To identify the predictors of short inter-pregnancy interval, multivariable binary logistic regression was fitted and findings are presented using adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). The overall prevalence of short inter-pregnancy interval (<24 months) among pregnant women was 205 (40.9%). Being over 30 years of age at first birth (AOR = 3.50; 95% CI: 2.12-6.01), non-use of modern contraceptive (AOR = 2.51; 95% CI: 1.23-3.71), duration of breastfeeding for less than 12 months (AOR = 2.62; 95% CI: 1.32-5.23), parity above four (AOR = 0.31; 95% CI: 0.05-0.81), and unintended pregnancy (AOR = 5.42; 95% CI: 3.34-9.22) were independently associated factors with short inter-pregnancy interval. Despite the public health interventions being tried in the country, the prevalence of short inter-pregnancy interval in this study is high. Therefore, it implies that increasing contraceptive use and encouraging optimal breastfeeding might help in the efforts made to avert the problem.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Adult / Biology and Life Sciences / Birth / Birth intervals / Birth Intervals - statistics & numerical data / Breast feeding / Breast Feeding - statistics & numerical data / Breastfeeding & lactation / Confidence intervals / Contraception Behavior - statistics & numerical data / Contraceptives / Cross-Sectional Studies / Data collection / Earth Sciences / Engineering and Technology / Ethics / Ethiopia - epidemiology / Female / Health aspects / Health facilities / Health promotion / Health sciences / Humans / Low income groups / Medicine and Health Sciences / Menstruation / Midwifery / Miscarriage / People and Places / Population / Pregnancy / Pregnant Women - psychology / Prevalence / Public health / Questionnaires / Response rates / Sample size / Social Sciences / Sociodemographics / Statistical analysis / Statistics / Womens health / Young Adult