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Determinants of contraceptive use among young women in Lesotho.

The study is titled 'Determinants of contraceptive use among young women in Lesotho'.



Caldwell and Caldwell (2002:80) assert, "The most serious problem with existing subSaharan



family planning programs is their neglect at adolescents' needs". The main objective



of the study is to investigate factors influencing the use of modern contraceptives among



young women (15-24 years old) in Lesotho and to contribute towards improvements in health



care services for adolescents. The study will examine the levels of contraceptive use among



young people in Lesotho, and explore social and demographic factors that promote



contraceptive use. The study is based on the data from 2004 Lesotho Demographic and



Health Survey which is a representative sample.



The study showed that young people have high knowledge of modern methods of



contraceptive (knowledge ranked up to 91 percent) however use of methods is lower (ranked



up to 44 percent). Traditional methods were the least known except for withdrawal which had



a plausible percentage (64.7 percent). Most of sexually active young people have ever used



contraceptives and injectables were the leading method while condoms were the most



generally known. The study also showed that contraceptive use increases with age, level of



education, wealth and discussion of family planning with partner. Results of the logistic



regression analysis, however, showed unexpected results where adolescents' from the rural



areas had a higher likelihood of using contraceptives than those from urban areas. Married



young women had a high level of contraceptive use than those never married. Socio-cultural



context hinders the establishment of reproductive programs on adolescents as their sexuality



is attached to marriage and childbearing. It was recommended that intensive programs



informing young people about their reproductive decision-making is needed. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/2192
Date January 2010
CreatorsMabele, Mantoa.
ContributorsNzimande, Nompumelelo.
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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