ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Glob. Women’s Health
Sec. Contraception and Family Planning
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2025.1547891
This article is part of the Research TopicSpotlight on Women's Health in EthiopiaView all 10 articles
Examining the low uptake of LARC in Ethiopia: An analysis of individual-level predisposing and enabling factors
Provisionally accepted
- Saint Louis University, St. Louis, United States
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According to the 2019 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS), only 11% of married reproductive-age women in Ethiopia use long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs). This study aimed to identify individual characteristics associated with LARC uptake compared to short-acting contraceptives, traditional and barrier methods, and non-contraceptive use. Data from the 2019 Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) Ethiopia survey (n=8182) were used to run multilevel logistic regression models. The sample includes sexually active reproductive-age women (15-49 years). Independent variables were grouped into predisposing and enabling factors guided by the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services. LARC uptake in this study was 9.7%. Older, single, nulliparous, and Muslim women had lower LARC use than non. contraceptive and traditional/barrier method use. When compared to short-acting method use, low LARC use was associated with smaller household size and no exposure to family planning information. When compared to all other groups, contraceptive autonomy was associated with higher LARC uptake. Younger women and women living in rural areas were less likely to use IUDs than implants. Policymakers could use these findings to tailor interventions to specific populations with low LARC uptake. Training providers on counseling and LARC eligibility could help improve LARC uptake among populations including less-empowered women. Involving religious leaders in contraceptive health education has the potential to increase LARC use.
Keywords: Long acting reversible contraception (LARC), Ethiopia, Predisposing factors, Enabling factors, Andersen's Behavioral Model, Contraceptive use
Received: 18 Dec 2024; Accepted: 20 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Teni, Sebert Kuhlmann, Loux and Sandoval. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mintesnot T Teni, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, United States
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