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. 2025 Jun 18;22(1):101.
doi: 10.1186/s12978-025-02058-2.

Prevalence and factors associated with teenage pregnancy among girls aged 13 to 19 years in Atutur sub-county, Kumi district, Eastern Uganda: a community-based cross-sectional study

Michael Akol  1 , Ronald Opito  2   3 , Bonniface Oryokot  3   4 , Hellen Akurut  2 , James Kalema  2 , Maxwell Chekwoti  2 , John Paul Matovu  2 , Nasta Mayamba Chelimo  2 , Hannah Muwanguzi  2 , Moses Eremu  5 , Samuel Kabwigu  6
Affiliations

Prevalence and factors associated with teenage pregnancy among girls aged 13 to 19 years in Atutur sub-county, Kumi district, Eastern Uganda: a community-based cross-sectional study

Michael Akol et al. Reprod Health. .

Abstract

Background: Teenage pregnancy remains a pressing public health issue with profound effects on health, education, and socio-economic outcomes. Rural areas, such as parts of Teso, often face higher prevalence of teenage pregnancy due to socioeconomic challenges. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and associated factors in Atutur sub-county, Kumi district.

Methodology: The authors employed a cross-sectional study design and sampled 444 teenage girls aged 13-19 years from 12 randomly selected villages in Atutur sub-county, Kumi district in April 2024. They were interviewed using structured researcher administered questionnaire. Data was collected using kobo collect tool, downloaded, cleaned and exported to SPPS version 27.0 for further management and analysis. Descriptive statistics was conducted to determine the prevalence of teenage pregnancy. After adjusting for covariates, multivariate analysis was conducted using modified Poisson regression to determine predictors of teenage pregnancy. Results were reported with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and factors whose CI did not contain a null (1.0), with p-value (P < 0.05) for adjusted PR, were considered statistically significant.

Results: Of the 444 teenage girls, the mean age was 17 (standard deviation = 1.9) years. About one third of the participants, 132(29.7%) had ever conceived. Teenage girls in cohabitation were 3.0 times more likely to have conceived (aPR = 3.0, 95% CI: 2.23-4.10, P < 0.001) compared to those staying with their parents. Teenagers with both parents deceased were 1.9 times more likely to conceive (aPR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.15-3.31, P = 0.032) compared to those whose parents were both alive. Teenage girls who were not satisfied with basic needs provided by parents were 3.3 times more likely to conceive (aPR = 3.3, 95% CI: 2.26-4.85, P < 0.001) compared to those satisfied with the basic needs provided by their parents.

Conclusion: Teenage pregnancy rates in Atutur sub-county Kumi district was higher than the national average, due to adverse socio-economic situation. Strengthening parental support of the girl child, with legal and community measures to reduce early marriages in rural settings may reduce teenage pregnancy. There is need to make deliberate efforts to provide socio-economic strengthening for the teenage girls to reduce their vulnerability.

Keywords: Cross-sectional; Early marriage; Prevalence; Teenage pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This was a student led research project and as such the proposal was presented to the Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences of Soroti University for review and approval and later submitted to Mbale Regional Referral Hospital Research and Ethics Committee (MRRHREC), which reviewed and granted ethical approval, REC No. MRRH-2024–405, as required by the Declaration of Helsinki (2013). Administrative clearance to conduct the study was sought and obtained from Kumi District Health Office. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Participant recruitment process: Participants were recruited from the 12 randomly selected villages of the 24 villages of Atutur sub-county. Consecutive recruitment of the teenage girls from the identified households was done until the allocated sample size per village was reached. Informed consent procedures: In accordance with recommendations from Belmont Report (1979), written informed consent was sought from participants who were of consenting age (18 years and above) and emancipated minors (those girls below 18 years but already living with a male partner, heading a household or breastfeeding a baby) while assent of the non-emancipated minors and their parental informed consent was obtained prior to interviewing. Confidentiality and privacy measures: Confidentiality was upheld by administering questionnaires in a secure place and personal identifiers such as name, national identification number or phone contacts were excluded. The computerized data was kept secure by pass-wording and encrypting it only to be accessible to the authorized study team. Voluntary participation: The participants were informed of their free will to withdraw from the study at any point without any penalty. Compensation: There was no compensation for the study participants as the research did not have any funding.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The prevalence of teenage pregnancy
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