Determinants of adolescents’ contraceptive uptake in Ethiopia: a systematic review of literature

INTRODUCTION: Various studies have identified different factors that affect adolescent contraceptive uptake in different parts of Ethiopia. However, varying results were reported across primary studies and those results need to be systematically collated to inform policies. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to synthesize the findings of those primary studies to obtain more robust and representative evidence about adolescent contraceptive uptake in Ethiopia. METHODS: Five databases (MEDLINE via PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct and CINAHL) were searched for papers published from January 2000 up to June 2021 in English. We limited our search to start on January 2000 as the health of adolescents have been given more attention after this period and to avoid time-lapsed biases. Seven studies were included in this systematic review. We used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool for quality assessment of the selected studies. RESULTS: Determinants of adolescent contraceptive utilization were focused on four levels: individual, socio-cultural, healthcare service and knowledge related factors. Individual-related factors that influence adolescents’ contraceptive uptake include; being in the age group of 10–15 years, not currently enrolled in school and being from low-income families, while socio-cultural factors include: lack of discussion with family members, arranged marriage, pressure from a partner, harmful traditional practices, discussion with peer groups and sexual partners. Healthcare service-related factors include; lack of information about contraceptives during health facility visits, lack of privacy during service provision and inconvenient service hours at health facilities, and not visiting health facilities, whereas, knowledge related factors include; having knowledge of contraceptive methods and being heard about contraceptives from media. Also, the proportion of adolescent contraceptive uptake ranged from 12 to 79%. CONCLUSIONS: In this systematic, individual, socio-cultural, health-care-related, and knowledge-related characteristics have all been identified as influencing adolescents’ contraceptive uptake in Ethiopia. Hence, integrated interventions aimed at overcoming barriers to adolescent contraceptive uptake would be beneficial to improving adolescent contraceptive utilization in Ethiopia.