Overview
Type: Personal power/control
Citation: Do, M., Kurimoto, N. Women's empowerment and choice of family planning methods. 2010. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carolina Population Center, MEASURE Evaluation PRH.
Use of Scale: Measure
Level of Generality: Individual
# of Items Reported: 22
Availability: Full
Theme: Gender/social norms, SRH/HIV
Demographics
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa
Country: Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Ghana, Uganda
Gender: Female
Urban / Rural: Urban, Rural
Ethnicity: NR
Age Group: Includes adolescents (<18)
Age Range: 15 to 49
Scale Information
# of Subscales: 6
Subscale Name(s): Economic empowerment; Socio-cultural empowerment; Autonomy in health decision-making; Fertility preferences; Sexual negotiation activity; Attitudes towards domestic violence
Direction and Meaning:
Response Range: NR
Internal Consistency: NA
Internal Consistency by Subgroup: Ghana: 0.729; Namibia: 0.815; Swaziland: 0.708; Uganda: 0.685; Zambia: 0.719
Test-retest Reliability: NA
Sample Items: Sometimes a husband is annoyed or angered by things that his wife does. In your opinion, is a husband justified in hitting or beating his wife in the following situations: if she goes out without telling him?
Measured Outcome(s): Contraception
Outcome(s)
Current female contraceptive use; Current couples contraceptive use
Detailed Outcome(s) Description
Outcome 1: Female contraceptive use (the pill, IUD, injectable and implant); Outcome 2: Couple contraceptive use (male and female condoms, diaphragm, foam, jelly, withdrawal, lactational amenorrhea, and periodic abstinence)
Statistical Method (Most Adjusted)
Multinomial logistic regression
Reference group for gender indicator
Higher empowerment vs. lower empowerment
Detailed Results
Female Contraceptive Use: Namibia: Relative risk ratio = 1.19 (SE = 0.03) p < 0.001 Zambia: Relative risk ratio = 1.17 (SE = 0.03) p < 0.001 Ghana: Relative risk ratio = 1.14 (SE = 0.07) p > 0.05 Uganda: Relative risk ratio = 1.21 (SE = 0.03) p < 0.001 Couples Contraceptive Use Namibia: Relative risk ratio = 1.24 (SE = 0.05) p < 0.001 Zambia: Relative risk ratio = 1.08 (SE = 0.03) p < 0.01 Ghana: Relative risk ratio = 1.27 (SE = 0.11) p < 0.05 Uganda: Relative risk ratio = 1.31 (SE = 0.06) p < 0.001 Overall, findings show that higher women's empowerment is positively associated with contraceptive use (methods initiated by the female and jointly by the couple) across countries. However, the association between empowerment and female contraceptive use is only marginally significant in Ghana.
Summary
Summary association oriented to reflect the following relationships: Positive association: indicates more equitable views or division of power and greater contraceptive use or more inequitable views/division of power and lower contraceptive use; Inverse association: reflects more equitable gender views/division of power and lower contraceptive use.
Outcome 1: Inconsistent positive; Outcome 2: Positive association
Covariates
None