Factors Influencing Teenage Pregnancy in the Birim North District in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Globally, teenage pregnancy has persistently posed serious challenges. Young girls giving birth earlier has serious public health and social concerns. About 95% teenage pregnancies occur in developing countries, and this has a long-term implication for girls on their health, families and communities. However, multilevel predictors of teenage pregnancy are not well studied yet. Several studies had focused mainly on the individual level characteristics but overlooked the socioeconomic and health related factors contributing to teenage pregnancy. The main aim of this study was to identify the factors contributing to teenage pregnancy in Birim North district to help design appropriate public health intervention program to mitigate it in the district. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 176 teenagers during the study period in the Birim North district. Five communities were randomly selected from each sub-district and respondents were selected using the simple random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire with socio- demographic factors, knowledge on reproductive health, socio –cultural and health related factors were used to elicit responses from the respondents. Data were coded and entered into Epi Data Manager Version 4.6.0.0 and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. A total of 176 teenage girls participated in the study. Bivariable analysis showed that all the variables except alcohol consumption were significantly associated with teenage pregnancy. Among the behavioural factors assessed, multivariable analyses showed that having multiple sexual partners and irregular contraceptive use increased the likelihood of teenage pregnancy. Among familial factors, being married was found to increase the likelihood of teenage pregnancy. Also, peer pressure, sexual abuse and lack of control over sex was observed to increase the likelihood of teenage pregnancy. Demographic, behavioural, familial and social factors are important predictors of teenage pregnancy in the Birim North District. Interventions focussing on retaining pregnant and married girls at school, information on sexual and reproductive health of teenage girls, improving access to and information about contraceptive use among teenage girls as well as improving socio-economic status of households and making adolescent health programs a part of regular school curriculum could improve knowledge gaps in sexual reproductive health services among teenagers. These measures would go a long way to minimize the menace of teenage pregnancy in the low-income settings in Ghana.