Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 17;12(11):e064732.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064732.

Pregnancy among adolescent girls in humanitarian settings: a case in refugee camp of Gambella regional state, community-based cross-sectional study, Southwest Ethiopia, 2021

Koang Nyak Bol  1 , Ebissa Negera  2 , Abdi Geda Gedefa  3
Affiliations

Pregnancy among adolescent girls in humanitarian settings: a case in refugee camp of Gambella regional state, community-based cross-sectional study, Southwest Ethiopia, 2021

Koang Nyak Bol et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of pregnancy and associated factors among adolescent girls in Nguenyyiel Refugee Camp.

Design: Cross-sectional study was employed to conduct this study.

Setting: A community-based cross-sectional study was done in Nguenyyiel Refugee Camp.

Participants: Four hundred and fourteen adolescent girls participated in this study. The systematic random sampling technique was used to select respondents. Data were collected using a well-structured and pretested questionnaire. Pregnancy test was done using the human chorionic gonadotropin test. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was run to identify factors associated with adolescent pregnancy.

Results: The prevalence of pregnancy among adolescent girls in the Nguenyyiel Refugee Camp was 21.7% (95% CI: 17.6% to 25.6%). Factors associated with adolescent pregnancy were age (17-19 years) (AOR): 2.79; 95% CI: 1.55 to 5.05; educational status: primary education (AOR: 7.69; 95% CI: 3.55 to 16.68) and no formal education (AOR: 3.42; 95% CI: 1.59 to 7.36); and household living arrangement: living with none of the biological parents (AOR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.02 to 4.49) and living with either of the biological parent (AOR: 3.71; 95% CI: 1.76 to 7.81).

Conclusions and recommendations: This study showed that there is a high prevalence of pregnancy among adolescent girls in the study setting. Age (17-19 years), educational status and household living arrangement (living with none of the biological parents and living with either of the biological parents) were among the factors significantly associated with adolescent pregnancy. Hence, health workers and other stakeholders in the camps should focus on strengthening adolescent sexual health education giving special attention to late adolescents, uneducated and living without biological family.

Keywords: Maternal medicine; Public health; Reproductive medicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of Nguenyyiel Refugee Camp, Gambella, Ethiopia. (Source: nguenyyiel refugee camp map - Bing)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Adolescent pregnancy . Available: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy [Accessed 05 May 2022].
    1. Kawakita T, Wilson K, Grantz KL, et al. . Adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes in adolescent pregnancy. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol 2016;29:130–6. 10.1016/j.jpag.2015.08.006 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nguyen PH, Sanghvi T, Tran LM, et al. . The nutrition and health risks faced by pregnant adolescents: insights from a cross-sectional study in Bangladesh. PLoS One 2017;12:e0178878–13. 10.1371/journal.pone.0178878 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bakesiima R, Cleeve A, Larsson E, et al. . Modern contraceptive use among female refugee adolescents in northern Uganda: prevalence and associated factors. Reprod Health 2020;17:1–9. 10.1186/s12978-020-00921-y - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nove A, Matthews Z, Neal S, et al. . Maternal mortality in adolescents compared with women of other ages: evidence from 144 countries. Lancet Glob Health 2014;2:e155–64. 10.1016/S2214-109X(13)70179-7 - DOI - PubMed