Differentials of fertility in North and South Gondar zones, northwest Ethiopia: A comparative cross-sectional study

Table 3 Results from the multivariate analysis – adjusted for demographic, socio-economic and reproductive variables, North and South Gondar zones, northwest Ethiopia, 2007

Explanatory variable	Fertility level		OR (adjusted)	95% C. I.		P-value
	High	Low		Lower	Upper
Place of residence						< 0.001*
Big towns	84	389	1.00
Small towns	79	230	1.27	0.86	1.90	0.235
Rural areas	848	794	2.79	2.01	3.87	< 0.001
Age at first marriage						< 0.001*
< 15 years	635	553	1.00
15 – 19 years	353	638	0.65	0.53	0.80	< 0.001
20 and above	23	200	0.21	0.13	0.36	< 0.001
Current marital status
Married	889	1088	1.62	1.20	2.19	0.002
Others	122	325	1.00
Educational level						0.002
No education	884	989	1.00
Primary	104	214	0.92	0.67	1.27	0.613
Secondary and above	23	210	0.37	0.21	0.64	< 0.001
Monthly household expenditure						< 0.001*
≤ 320 Eth Birr	256	556	1.00
321 – 500 Eth Birr	309	487	1.48	1.16	1.88	0.001
501 – 999 Eth Birr	327	292	3.39	2.60	4.43	< 0.001
≥ 1000 Eth Birr	119	78	6.97	4.54	10.71	< 0.001
Number of children who have died						< 0.001*
none	513	1235	1.00
1–2 children	382	166	4.31	3.42	5.42	< 0.001
3 and above children	116	12	19.87	10.45	37.77	< 0.001
Knowledge of the respondent regarding the period of pregnancy
Correct	92	274	1.00
Wrong	919	1139	1.42	1.04	1.93	0.027
Attitude towards using contraceptives in the future
Yes	552	860	1.00
No	459	553	1.26	1.02	1.55	0.030
Total number of children born alive from the mother of the respondent
1 – 4 children	150	321	1.00
5 – 9 children	650	929	1.27	0.97	1.64	0.079
10 and above	211	162	2.16	1.55	3.03	< 0.001

* For variables having more than two categories, the overall significance is given by their corresponding P – values N.B. The combined contribution of the rest 12 variables was very minimal (LRT = 19.67, (df = 20), P > > 0.20). This justifies the dropping of these variables so as to have a more parsimonious model that works just as the full model.

ISSN: 1471-2458