Analyzing factors associated with time to age at first marriage among women in Ethiopia: log logistic-gamma shared frailty model

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study is to fit Log logistic-Gamma shared frailty model for the determinant of time to age at first marriage among women in Ethiopia. METHODS: The data set in this study were obtained from Demography and Health survey conducted in Ethiopia in 2016. In this study, we used Log logistic-Gamma shared frailty model to account for the loss of independence that arises from the clustering of women in region of Ethiopia. A total of 12,066 women aged 15–49 in Ethiopia were included in this study. RESULTS: Of all 12,066 women aged 15–49, 9466 (78.45%) were married and the median & mean age at first marriage for women living in Ethiopia were 17.2 years and 17.5 years respectively, while the minimum and maximum age at first marriage observed were 8 years and 49 years respectively. CONCLUSION: The most significant contributing factors to delaying time to age at first marriage of women aged 15–49 in Ethiopia were increased education level of women, increased education level of the head, increased income, residing in urban and being followers of religion other than orthodox, catholic, protestant & Muslim. The heterogeneity of age at first marriage for women aged 15–49 among regions in Ethiopia was observed. The government of Ethiopia and the concerned bodies should revise the women's health policy and practice to reduce early marriage and give attention to women; illiterate, live in rural areas, and have illiterate and poor heads.