Skip to main content

Table 1 Distribution of study participants according to unmet need status among sexually active women

From: Multilevel analysis of factors associated with unmet need for family planning among Malawian women

Variable

Unmet need – (n = 15,931)

 
 

No (n = 12,581)

Yes (n = 3350)

p-value a

Individual-level factors

 Woman’s age (years)

  

0.011

  15–24

4123 (77.9)

1172 (22.1)

 

  25–34

5014 (80.6)

1209 (19.4)

 

   ≥ 35

3444 (78.0)

969 (21.9)

 

 Number of children ever had

  

< 0.001

  0

348 (70.4)

357 (29.6)

 

  1

2221 (80.3)

546 (19.7)

 

  2+

9512 (79.5)

2447 (20.5)

 

 Wealth

  

0.049

  Poor

4918 (77.9)

1397 (27.1)

 

  Middle

2432 (79.0)

649 (21.0)

 

  Rich

5230 (80.0)

1304 (20.0)

 

 Marital status

  

< 0.001

  Unmarried

483 (58.9)

338 (41.1)

 

  Married

12,098 (80.1)

3012 (19.9)

 

 Employed

  

< 0.001

  No

3342 (74.7)

1129 (25.2)

 

  Yes

9239 (80.6)

2221 (19.4)

 

 Residence

  

0.046

  Urban

2195 (80.9)

518 (19.1)

 

  Rural

10,386 (78.6)

2832 (21.4)

 

 Region

  

< 0.001

  Northern

1473 (75.8)

471 (24.2)

 

  Central

5691 (82.1)

1239 (17.9)

 

  Southern

5417 (76.8)

1640 (23.2)

 

 Woman’s educational level

  

0.216

  No formal education

1571 (77.0)

470 (23.0)

 

  Primary

8108 (79.2)

2135 (20.8)

 

  Secondary and higher

2902 (79.6)

745 (20.4)

 

 Religion

  

0.001

  Catholics

2556 (81.1)

596 (18.9)

 

  Protestants

3018 (80.8)

717 (19.2)

 

  Muslims and other

7007 (77.5)

2037 (22.5)

 

 Experienced death of child

  

< 0.011

  No

11,642 (79.7)

2968 (20.3)

 

  Yes

939 (71.1)

382 (28.9)

 

 Media exposure

  

< 0.001

  No

7579 (77.4)

2213 (22.6)

 

  Yes

5002 (81.5)

1137 (18.5)

 

 Distance to HF

  

0.084

  No problem

5610 (79.8)

1421 (20.2)

 

  Problem

6971 (78.3)

1929 (21.7)

 

Community-level factors

 Community wealth

  

0.051

  Low

5063 (77.9)

1433 (22.1)

 

  Middle

4158 (78.7)

1124 (21.3)

 

  High

3360 (80.9)

793 (19.1)

 

 Community employment

  

< 0.001

  Low

3631 (75.5)

1179 (24.5)

 

  Middle

4075 (79.4)

1058 (20.6)

 

  High

4875 (81.4)

1113 (18.6)

 

 Community women’s education

  

< 0.001

  Low

4435 (76.5)

1365 (23.5)

 

  Middle

4557 (80.2)

1122 (19.8)

 

  High

3589 (80.6)

863 (19.4)

 

 Community distance to HF

  

0.115

  Low

3263 (80.7)

779 (19.3)

 

  Middle

4889 (78.2)

1366 (21.8)

 

  High

4429 (78.6)

1205 (21.4)

 
  1. ap-value from chi square test, bold means significant at p < 0.05