Factors Associated With Teenage Pregnancy in Akatsi South District of the Volta Region

ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION   Teenage pregnancy is a social issue of public health importance that has received attention globally. It plaques both developed and developing countries, but it is more prevalent in developing countries such as Ghana. This outcome is of public health concern given that teenage pregnancy has effects on girl child education their health and the health of their children. 
OBJECTIVES    This study sought to identify the factors associated with teenage pregnancy in the Akatsi South District of the Volta Region of Ghana. It also assessed the knowledge of sexual and reproductive health services among female teenagers.
METHODS     A case control study was undertaken. Consecutive sampling was done to select a total of 439 participants in the study of which 285 were controls and 155 were cases. Data was collected by using a structured questionnaire through a one on one interview and analysis was done with STATA version 15.Descriptive statistics was used to describe categorical variables by summarizing them into proportions percentages and frequencies and logistic regression used for assessing strength of associations between teenage pregnancy and factors associated with it.
RESULTS      Respondents aged 17 to 19 years had two times higher odds of having had  a teenage pregnancy compared to those aged 13 to 16 years (AOR: 2.62, 95% CI: 1.24, 5.56). Married teenagers and teenagers who were dating had 27.1 times and 2 times higher odds of having had a teenage pregnancy  respectively compared to those teenagers who were not in any relationship (AOR: 27.11, 95CI%: 5.76-127.56) and (AOR: 1.99, 95% CI: 0.98-4.02). All respondents from the richest to the middle had more than 2 times  odds of being a pregnant teenager compared to those in the poorest group. CONCLUSION    The study indicated that teenage pregnancy was associated with early adolescent marriage in Akatsi south district and that it was also very common among those with high socio economic status. This means that traditional authorities in the district must be actively involved in all activities that are geared towards tackling teenage pregnancy in the district.   Making adolescent health programs a part of regular school curriculum could also improve knowledge gaps of sexual reproductive health services among teenagers and curtail the menace of teenage pregnancy.