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
. 2024 Oct 29;24(1):708.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-024-06909-x.

Factors associated with teenage pregnancy among refugees in Palabek refugee settlement, Northern Uganda

Emmanuel Okiror Okello  1 , Marvin Musinguzi  2 , Marc Sam Opollo  2 , Kigongo Eustes  3 , Anne Ruth Akello  3
Affiliations

Factors associated with teenage pregnancy among refugees in Palabek refugee settlement, Northern Uganda

Emmanuel Okiror Okello et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Globally, teenage pregnancy is a public health problem. Low- and middle-income countries in the Sub-Saharan region are more affected with teenage pregnancy. It is worse with teenage girls who have other vulnerabilities like living in refugee camps. However, there is little information about teenage pregnancy in refugee camps especially in resource limited areas like Northern Uganda.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and the factors associated with teenage pregnancy among refugees in Palabek refugee settlement, Northern Uganda.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among teenage girls in Palabek refugee settlement in Northern Uganda. The study estimated a total sample size of 316 teenage girls and they were sampled using systematic random sampling. Data was collected using researcher administered questionnaire. Conditional logistics regression was employed to identify the associated factors for teenage pregnancy.

Results: A total of 306 teenagers participated in the study with a response rate of 98.6%. The study showed that the prevalence of teenage pregnancy among teenage girls in Palabek refugee settlement, Northern Uganda was 41.2%. The factors associated with teenage pregnancy among teenage girls in Palabek refugee settlement included: being in the 15-19 years age group (AOR = 6.3, 95%CI: 1.8-22.8), not being in school (AOR = 5, 95%CI: 2.3-10.9), not being married (AOR = 0.2, 95%CI: 0.1-0.5), delayed sexual debut (AOR = 2.4, 95%CI: 1.1-5.5), having multiple sexual partners (AOR = 0.3, 95% CI: 0.1-0.7), alcohol use (AOR = 6.7, 95%CI: 2.2-18.4), being aware of sexual reproductive health services (AOR = 0.4, 95%CI: 0.2-0.9), and having divorced families (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.2-4.9).

Conclusion: Study results reveal that 4 in 10 teenage girls in Palabek, Northern Uganda, are pregnant, influenced by individual, community, and health system factors. This highlights vulnerabilities in refugee camps, urging prioritization of sexual and reproductive health for adolescent girls in refugee camps.

Keywords: Refugee; Risk factors; Teenage pregnancy; Uganda.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. WHO. Adolescent pregnancy [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 Jul 2]. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy
    1. Bakesiima R, Cleeve A, Larsson E, Tumwine JK, Ndeezi G, Danielsson KG et al. Modern contraceptive use among female refugee adolescents in northern Uganda: prevalence and associated factors. Reproductive Health [Internet]. 2020 May 20 [cited 2024 Jan 2];17(1):67. 10.1186/s12978-020-00921-y - PMC - PubMed
    1. Musinguzi M, Kumakech E, Auma AG, Akello RA, Kigongo E, Tumwesigye R et al. Prevalence and correlates of teenage pregnancy among in-school teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hoima district western Uganda–A cross sectional community-based study. PloS one [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Sep 29];17(12):e0278772. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0278772 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Williams TP, Chopra V, Chikanya SR. It isn’t that we’re prostitutes: child protection and sexual exploitation of adolescent girls within and beyond refugee camps in Rwanda. Child Abuse Negl. 2018;86:158–66. - PubMed
    1. Hourani J, Block K, Phillimore J, Bradby H, Ozcurumez S, Goodson L et al. Structural and symbolic violence exacerbates the risks and consequences of sexual and gender-based violence for forced migrant women. Frontiers in Human Dynamics [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2024 Feb 1];3:769611. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2021.769611/full

LinkOut - more resources