Determinants of Teenage Pregnancy in Rural Ethiopia

Teenage pregnancy is a major health concern because it associated with higher morbidity and mortality for both mother and child. The general aim was to assess the determinants of teenage pregnancy in rural Ethiopia using 2252 teenagers of EDHS 2016 data. The data was analyzed using descriptiv(percentage and barcchart) and inferential statistics(logistic regression).The descriptive statistics revealed that 16.3% of the teenagers experienced teenage pregnancy and the highest teenage pregnancy were found in the rural area of Harari, Afar, Dire Dawa and Somali regional state of Ethiopia while the lowest was found in Ahmara, SNNPand Tigray regional state of Ethipia. The logistic regression showed that age at first sexual intercourse, marital status, education level, wealth index, knowledge about ovulary cycle, Current contraceptive use and region were signficantly affect teenage pregnancy in Ethiopia. Hence, the government and other cocerned body should work to create awareness and legal restriction on reproductive activity of teenagers to minimize the risk of teenage pregancy across the regional state of Ethiopia. Keywords: Teenage; pregnancy; Logistic Regression DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/68-02 Publication date: November 30th 2019