Determinants of implanon discontinuation among women who ever used implanon in Shashemene district, west Arsi zone, Southern Ethiopia: unmatched case control study

BACKGROUND: Despite tremendous work has been done on demand creation, capacity building and ensuring the logistics of Implanon; its discontinuation rate remained high in Ethiopia; the prevalence is reported to be 31% in Shashemene District. However, the factors contributing to the high prevalence of early Implanon discontinuation were not well understood in our study setting. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the determinants of implanon discontinuation among women who had ever used Implanon in Shashemene District, Southern Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based unmatched case-control study was conducted among randomly selected 264 women (88 cases and 176 controls) in Shashemene District, Southern Ethiopia, from April 12 to May 18, 2021. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the respondents. Cases were women who discontinued Implanon before 3 years and controls were those who used implanon for 3 full years. A pre-tested, interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were performed to identify determinants of Implanon discontinuation. An odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate the strength of the association, and significance was declared at a P value of less than 0.05. RESULT: The mean age of the respondents was 28.23 (± 5.46) years: 27.27 (± 5.38) years for cases and 28.70 (± 5.5) years for controls. Women with no formal education [AOR = 3.09, 95% CI: (1.20, 8.00)], fewer than four children [AOR = 2.47, 95% CI: (1.20, 5.08)], no history of abortion [AOR = 2.84, 95% CI: (1.25, 6.46)], being new acceptors [AOR = 2.14, 95% CI: (1.02, 4. 49)], being counseled for less than fifteen minutes [AOR = 2.47, 95% CI: (1.29, 4.70)], not discussing it with a partner [AOR = 2.88, 95% CI: (1.42, 5.84)] and experiencing side effects [AOR = 0.35, 95% CI: (0.17, 0.71)] were significantly associated with discontinuation of implanon. CONCLUSION: Women with no formal education, having less than four children, history of abortion, new acceptors, duration of counseling, discussion with partner, and side effects were determinants of Implanon discontinuation among women. There is a need to ensure adequate pre-implantation counseling and appropriate management of side effects. Furthermore, interventions should target new acceptors and those without formal education. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40834-023-00248-6.