Women empowerment and the current use of long acting and ...

6 downloads 0 Views 528KB Size Report
permanent contraceptives method (LAPCM) which include, intra-uterine device (IUD), progestogen implant, male and female sterilization are widely known as ...
Malawi Medical Journal; 26 (3): 63-70 September 2014

Contraceptive Use 63

Women empowerment and the current use of long acting and permanent contraceptive: Evidence from 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey ME Palamuleni, and AS Adebowale North West University

Abstract Background Both contraceptive use and fertility rates are high fertility in Malawi. Status of women remains low and is believed to affect reproductive health decisions including use of Long Acting and Permanent Contraceptives Method (LAPCM). Objective This study seeks to examine the relationship between women empowerment and LAPCM. A measure of women’s empowerment is derived from the women’s responses to questions on the number of household decisions in which the respondent participates, employment status, type of earnings, women’s control over cash earnings and level of education. Methods The study is based on a sub sample of 5,948 married women from the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and multinomial logistic regression models (α=5%). Results The prevalence of current use of LAPCM was 20.0% and increases with increasing empowerment level (p