Interbirth interval practices among reproductive age women in rural and Urban kebeles in Farta Woreda: Case-control study

BACKGROUND: Closely spaced births have been reported all over the world especially in developing countries, and they have been correlated with poor maternal and infant health. Enhancing optimal birth interval is one of the key strategies to promote the health status of mothers and their children. However, factors affecting short birth intervals have not been identified in the study area and region. This study was aimed to assess determinants of short birth interval practice among reproductive women in Farta woreda, Ethiopia, 2019. METHODS: Community based unmatched case-control study design was conducted from February to March 2019. The sample size of 303 (101 case and 202 controls) was included by using multistage sampling and then study participants were selected by simple random sampling technique. The data was collected by structured and pre-tested face-to-face interviewer-administered questionnaires from the selected respondents. The collected data were entered with Epi-Data version 4.2 and analyzed by using SPSS version 23 software. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine the association. Odds ratios, 95% CI, and P-value <0.05 were used to determine the statistical association. RESULTS: Women who had no formal education (AOR = 2.15, 95% CI (1.19, 3.88), had not a history of antenatal care follow up (AOR = 2.66, 95% CI (1.55, 4.56)), did not use modern contraceptives before getting the latest pregnancy (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI (1.74, 6.95)) and duration of breastfeeding less than 24 months (AOR = 3.59, 95% CI (2.06, 6.24)) were significantly associated with short birth interval. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION: Maternal education, duration of breastfeeding, contraceptive utilization, and antenatal follow-up were identified as the predictor variables of short birth interval practice. Therefore, providing health information for reproductive-age women about the benefit of contraceptive utilization, breastfeeding practice and antenatal care follow up to minimize problems resulting from the short birth intervals.