Unmet Need for Family Planning and Associated Factors Among Currently Married Women of Reproductive Age in Bishoftu Town, Eastern Ethiopia

Background: Unmet family planning is one of the common causes for low contraceptive prevalence rates in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Rapid urbanization had profound effect on population health, however, little is known about the unmet need of family planning in settings where there was increased industrializations and internal migrations in Ethiopia. This study aims to determine the unmet need for family planning services among currently married women and identify factors associated with it in Bishoftu town, Eastern Ethiopia.

Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st January to 28th February, 2021 among 847 randomly sampled currently married women of the reproductive age group. Data were collected using semi structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the outcome variable and a 95% confidence interval was used to declare the presence of statistical significance associations.

Results: Eight hundred twenty-eight women were participated in the study. The prevalence of unmet need for family planning among currently married women was 26% [95% CI: 23,29]. Maternal age [AOR, 3.00, 95% CI:1.51-5.95], educational status [AOR, 2.49, 95% CI:1.22-5.07], occupational status of self-employee [AOR, 1.98, 95% CI:1.15-3.39] and housewife [AOR, 1.78, 95% CI:1.02-3.12], being visited by health care provider in the last 12 months [AOR, 1.81, 95% CI: 1.26-2.60] and desired number of children less than two [AOR, 1.53, 95% CI:1.01-2.30] were significantly associated with unmet need for family planning.

Conclusions: Unmet need for family planning was higher in the study area compared with the United Nations sphere standard of unmet need for family planning and the national average, and slightly lower than the regional average. Socio-demographic, economic, and health institution factors were determinants of the unmet need for family planning in the study area. Therefore, health education and behaviour change communication related to family planning services should be strengthened and access to family planning services should be improved.