Short birth interval in Ghana: Maternal socioeconomic predictors and child survival

Abstract

Introduction Short birth interval is a problem in second and third world countries, where statistics show that about 17% of women in marriage and reproductive age have unmet family planning needs. The aim of the study was to identify the socioeconomic factors that predict short birth spacing among married women in Ghana. Methods This study was an analytic cross-sectional study relying on secondary data analysis from cross-sectional Ghana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2017–2018. The analysis was done using SPSS version 20 (IBM Corp., 2011, and NY). Bivariate analysis was done using chi-squared and predictor variables identified using binary logistic regression. The level of significance was set at p<0.05 Results The study’s prevalence of short birth intervals was 49.7%. Child survival was 44% less likely in children with a short birth interval than those without a short birth interval (OR= 0.56; 95% CI: 0.51–0.62). Factors with significant relationships with the birth interval at the two variable analysis stage were further modelled with a binary logistic regression model in multiple variables analysis to identify predictors of short birth interval. The sociodemographic factors that predicted short birth intervals included lower maternal age, high education level, rural, from central region, having no health insurance, Mole Dagbani tribe, poorest wealth index, and high parity position (p<0.05). Conclusions This study recorded a high prevalence of short birth intervals. Predictors of short birth interval included: lower maternal age and high parity position of the current birth. Child survival was less likely for babies from a short birth interval.

Keywords

• ghana
• spacing
• socioeconomic
• predictors
• small
• birth