The Prevalence Of And Factors Associated With Teenage Pregnancies Among Mothers Attending Hoima Regional Referral Hospital

ABSTRACT Introduction: Worldwide, approximately 16 million mothers aged 15-19 years give birth annually; 95% of these births occur in low and middle income countries (WHO, 2016). In Uganda, a slight increase in the number of teenage mothers from 24% in 2011 to 25% in 2016 was observed (UBOS, 2016).Bunyoro region has a high level of teenage pregnancy of 29% (Uganda Population Secretariat, 2013).The prevalence and possible factors associated with teenage pregnancies have not been systematically studied in HRRH. Objective: This study is set to determine the prevalence of and possible factors associated with teenage pregnancy among mothers attending HRRH. Methodology: this was a cross sectional study where a sample size of 369 teenage mothers seeking care at HRRH over a 3 month period. A consecutive sampling technique with structured questionnaire was used to identify the prevalence of and factors associated with teenage pregnancy among mothers attending HRRH. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses were done to determine the factors associated with teenage pregnancies. Results: This study has shown that the prevalence of teenage pregnancy is 23% among mothers attending HRRH. The age-risk group for teenage pregnancy was 15-17 age groups. The major factors associated with teenage pregnancy included being unmarried (aOR =4.15; CI= 2.47-6.99; p-value= 0.000), early sexual activity (aOR= 0.10; CI= 0.06-0.19; p-value=0.000) and more than 1 sexual partner (a0R 0.36; CI=0.20-0.66; p-value= 0.000). Conclusion: The study concluded that the prevalence of teenage pregnancy among teenage mothers accessing HRRH is high. Factors associated with teenage pregnancy were un-married status, early sexual activity; however having more than 1 sexual partner was found to be protective. Recommendation: Government, health workers, stakeholders, community leaders, teachers and parents have more efforts such as sensitization, monitoring, and counseling, etc. to put an end to adolescent pregnancy in Hoima. A bigger study is recommended in this hospital so as to influence policy makers about this high prevalence