Access to and Uptake of Contraception by Women with Disabilities

Abstract

Contraception has been identified as an imperative for achieving
the Sustainable Development Goals. In poor countries, the need for
contraception is highest among the most vulnerable population groups. One
such group is women with disabilities. The objectives of this study were to
examine uptake of and identify the predictors of use of contraception by
women in Uganda with disabilities. The study used cross-sectional data on
1128 sexually experienced women in the 15-49 year age group with
disabilities. The data were obtained from the 2011 Uganda Demographic and
Health Survey. The binary logistic regression model was used to analyse the
data. The study found that only 26.1% of the women had ever used
contraception and the results confirmed the hypothesis that access to health
facilities and access to family planning information on radio significantly
increased uptake of contraception. Other factors that significantly increased
uptake of contraception were attending 4 or more Antenatal Care (ANC)
visits, being in the 25-34 year age group, living in Kampala region, having
primary, secondary or higher education, being in the middle or richer wealth
index groups and having almost daily access to radio. We conclude that uptake
of contraception by women with disabilities is low and reflects the high unmet
need for contraception for women in Uganda, which could be explained by the
pervasive structural inequalities in access to contraception services.