Religion, Ethnicity and Contraceptive Use among Reproductive age Women in Nigeria

BACKGROUND Religion and Ethnicity are the two most important factors that shape the behavioral pattern especially health seeking behaviors of the people of Nigeria. This study seeks to examine the mediatory effects of the linkage between ethnicity and religion with selected socio-demographic variables on the current use of contraception (CUC) among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. METHODS Nationally representative sample of 39,948 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in the 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) was used. Chi-square was used to analyze the bivariate relationship between exposure variables and CUC. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratio with the 95% confidence interval. RESULTS The prevalence of CUC was generally low for women of reproductive age in Nigeria, highest among the Yoruba women and lowest among the Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri/Seriberi (HFKS) women; highest among other Christian women and lowest for Muslim women and highest for Yoruba/other religion and lowest for women of Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri/Seriberi/Islam. The odds ratios showed that disparity across ethno-religious boundaries is significant. CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS Globally, and especially in sub-Saharan African countries, maternal mortality resulting from the abortion of unintended pregnancies pose a major challenge in health delivery system. In Nigeria, a cultural and religious heterogeneous society, current use of contraceptives by women of reproductive age is found not to be a matter of independent effects of ethnicity, religiosity and other socio-demographic variables but also dependent on the effects of interactions between the ethnicity and religion.