A secondary analysis of the factors associated with women´s adequate utilization of antenatal care services during their last pregnancy in Uganda

BACKGROUND: Adequate antenatal care services (ANC) use is critical to identifying and reducing pregnancy risks. Despite the importance placed on adequate antenatal care service utilization, women in Uganda continue to underutilize antenatal care services. The primary goal of this study is to identify the factors associated with women’s adequate utilization of antenatal care services in Uganda. METHODS: Secondary data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey were used in this study. The study sample consists of 9,416 women aged 15 to 49 who reported giving birth in the five years preceding the survey. The adequate use of antenatal care services is the dependent variable. A woman who used antenatal care services at least four times is considered to have adequately used antenatal care services. We used univariate, bivariate, and multilevel logistic regression modelling to identify the factors associated with adequate utilization of antenatal care services. STATA version 14.2 was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The prevalence of adequate utilization of antenatal care services in Uganda was found to be 61.4%. Women with secondary or higher education were 32.0% (AOR = 1.32, 95% CI;1.07–1.63), employed women were 26.0% (AOR = 1.26, 95% CI;1.10–1.44), women who received high-quality antenatal care content were 78.0% (AOR = 1.78, 95% CI;1.58–2.02), and women who belong to the rich category of the wealth index bracket were 27.0% (AOR = 1.27, 95% CI;1.09–1.49), more likely to use antenatal care services adequately. Finally, the study discovered that women from less diverse ethnic communities were 15.0% (AOR, 0.85, 95%CI; 0.73–0.99) less likely to use antenatal care services adequately. CONCLUSION: Women’s adequate utilization of antenatal care was influenced by both community and individual-level characteristics. Policymakers must use a multi-sectoral approach to develop policies that address both individual and community-level characteristics.