Modern contraceptive use among women of reproductive age in Zimbabwe: analysis of 1999-2015 Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey.

Introduction: Modern contraception use is the fundamental fulfilment of women's rights to choose when and how many children to have. The study explored predictors of modern contraceptive use among women in Zimbabwe.

Method: Data from the 1999, 2005/2006, 2010/2011 and 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) was used in a secondary analysis that involved 5474 women of reproductive age. The outcome measure was modern contraceptive use as reported by women. Multiple logistic regression was done to determine the predictors of modern contraceptive use.

Results: The trend showed that since 1999 to 2015 there has been a steadily increase in modern contraceptive use from 54.9% to 72.9%. The use of contraceptives was lower among age 40 to 49 years (aOR = 0.49, p = 0.001)], other religion (aOR = 0.34, p = 0.005), induced abortion (aOR = 0.70; p ≤ 0.001), desire for having children within 2 years (aOR = 0.21; p ≤ 0.001) and polygamy (aOR = 0.43; p ≤ 0.001). The odds of contraceptives used was higher among richer wealth index (aOR = 1.45, p = 0.017), partners with higher education (aOR = 2.00, p = 0.029)], parity 1-2 (aOR = 15.53; p ≤ 0.001), 3-4 (aOR = 19.60; p ≤ 0.001), 5 or more (aOR = 17.50; p ≤ 0.001)] and media exposure (aOR = 1.79; p = 0.003).

Conclusions: The study asserts that women's financial status, partners educational level, and media exposure might be important in promoting the use of modern contraceptives among women in a union in Zimbabwe and other low-income and middle-income countries.