Application of a modified Poisson model in identifying factors associated with prevalence of pregnancy termination among women aged 15 – 49 years in Uganda

BACKGROUND: Abortion in Uganda is illegal, only permitted when it places the pregnant mother at risk. This study aimed to apply the modified Poisson model in identifying factors associated with the prevalence of pregnancy termination among women of reproductive age in Uganda. METHODS: The 2016 Uganda Demographic Health Survey (UDHS) data were used in this study. More than 18,000 women of the age of 15 – 49 years participated in this study. A modified Poisson model that incorporated sampling weights was used to establish the factors associated with pregnancy termination. RESULTS: In Uganda, 18,506 (18.1%) had ever had a pregnancy terminated. The results revealed that, the woman's age [APR = 3.15, 95% CI: 2.72–3.63], being married [APR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.40–1.71], mass media exposure [APR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.08–1.29], working status [APR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.09–1.35], and having visited a health facility [APR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.10–1.31] were positively significantly associated with likelihood of pregnancy termination. CONCLUSION: There exists a significant proportion of women who have had their pregnancies terminated in Uganda. It is observed that woman's age, marital status, mass media exposure, having visited a health facility in the last 12 months and working status were main predictors. Based on these results, researchers concluded that the emphasis should be put on improving access to post-abortion care, contraceptive use and media exposure.