Association of husbands' education status with unintended pregnancy in their wives in southern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Unintended pregnancy rates are substantially higher in developing regions, have significant health consequences, and disproportionately affect subgroups with socio-economic disadvantage. We aimed to examine whether there is an association between husbands’ education status and their wives unintended pregnancy in southern Ethiopia. METHODS: The data source for this study was from a cross-sectional study on iron-folate supplementation and compliance in Wolaita, South Ethiopia. Data were collected from October to November 2015 in 627 married pregnant women regarding their husbands’ education status, socio-demographic characteristics, and if they wanted to become pregnant at the time of survey using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to estimate Odds Ratios (ORs) with associated z-tests and 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI) for variables associated with unintended pregnancy. RESULTS: The proportion of unintended pregnancy in this sample was 20.6%. Husbands’ education status, age, residence, and using family planning methods were associated with unintended pregnancy (all P-values < 0.05). Multivariable models consistently showed that being married to a husband with at least some college or university education was associated with a decreased OR for unintended pregnancy after controlling for age and use of family planning at conception period (OR 0.36 [95%CI: 0.17, 0.82]) and age and rural residence (OR 0.40 [95%CI: 0.18, 0.90]). CONCLUSION: Unintended pregnancy among Ethiopian woman was consistently associated with being married to least educated husbands in southern Ethiopia. Increasing age and living in a rural vs urban area were also independently associated with unintended pregnancy. Strategies for addressing family planning needs of women with poorly educated husbands should be the subject of future research.