Browsing by Author "Owaka, Isaac Ogweno"

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    Determinants of Unmet Family Planning Needs among Women of Reproductive Age between 15 and 49 Years in Siaya County, Kenya
    (Pan African Medical Journal, 2025-07) Ameso, Ruth Anyango; Gitonga, Eliphas; Owaka, Isaac Ogweno
    Introduction: unmet need for family planning is still a major public health issue, impacting maternal and child health outcomes. In Kenya, 14% of women desire to avoid or delay a pregnancy but are not using contraceptives. Unmet need differs across counties, with Siaya having a high unmet need at 21% despite the target to eliminate unmet need for family planning. This study sought to establish determinants of unmet family planning needs among women of reproductive age (WRA) between 15 and 49 years in Siaya County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to address three specific objectives: to determine the level of unmet needs among WRA, socio-demographic characteristics of WRA, assess the level of knowledge on family planning and to determine attitudes towards family planning among WRA. Methods: the study presents findings from the baseline phase of a larger quasi-experimental study design. It utilized a mixed research design. The study adopted the World Health Organization's 30 by 30 2-stage cluster sampling method. The FANTA sample size formula was applied to arrive at 724 respondents. A total of 728 women of reproductive age participated in the study. The study included sexually active WRA, married women, or women in a companion. The study targeted over 67,023 women already in such unions and sexually active, which served as the sampling frame for the study. The current study, being a baseline study, results after the health education intervention will be presented in another study. Results were presented in tables and figures. Ethical guidelines and procedures upheld during the study included informed consent, voluntary participation of participants, confidentiality, data security measures, assent for the minors, and usage of research licenses and approval from the ethics from the school. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 28.0. The statistical analysis was undertaken in two steps: bivariate analysis and multivariate analysis. Results: a total of 728 women of reproductive age participated in the study. The majority (45.2%) of the women were aged 25 to 34 years. Results showed that most (64.0%) of the women demonstrated a high level of knowledge, scoring 80% or above. However, only 2.7% had a low level of knowledge, with aggregate scores below 50%. The majority (75.5%) of the women had a positive attitude, with 24.5% having a negative attitude. The prevalence of unmet need was 52.7%. The proportion of unmet need was significantly more (COR = 1.61; 95%CI = 1.19 - 2.19; p = 0.002) among women with a low or moderate level of knowledge on family planning compared to those women with a high level of knowledge. Women aged 15 to 24 years were 3.43 times more likely to have unmet need for family planning compared to those aged 35 to 49 years (COR = 3.43; 95%CI = 2.23 - 5.26; compared to those women with a positive attitude. Conclusion: the study concludes that social-demographic factors such as education, age, or economic activity significantly influenced the unmet needs for family planning. Knowledge significantly influenced the unmet needs for family planning, where WRA with lesser knowledge were more likely to experience unmet needs. Lastly, Attitudes such as perceived harm of using contraceptives and stigmatization from their use significantly increased the odds of unmet family planning needs.
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    Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy Among Antenatal Attendees at Health Facilities in West Pokot County, Kenya
    (Kenyatta University, 2015-10) Owaka, Isaac Ogweno
    Violence against women perpetuated by intimate partners is worldwide and an important public health concern as well as human rights issue. Intimate partner violence in pregnancy has drawn attention due to its prevalence, detrimental health consequences and intervention potential. In Kenya, the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey report estimates that 38 % of ever-married women age 15-49 have ever experienced Intimate Partner Violence. There is scanty information on the prevalence and associated risk factors of intimate partner violence in pregnancy in West Pokot County. The objective of this study was to investigate factors contributing to intimate partner violence in pregnancy among antenatal attendees at the health facilities in West Pokot Sub-County. The study was done in 11 health facilities in West Pokot Sub-County. Using cross sectional study design, a total of 238 antenatal attendees who were proportionately and systematically selected from a sample frame of 622 were interviewed for experience of various forms of intimate partner violence in their current pregnancy. This was followed by qualitative research comprising of 4 Focused Group Discussions with 48 community health workers and key informant interviews with 20 health workers. The qualitative study explored community level risk factors on intimate partner violence in pregnancy and the quality of care offered to antenatal attendee experiencing intimate partner violence in pregnancy. Quantitative data was managed using the statistical package for social scientist (SPSS) while Qualitative data was consolidated into various themes. Bivariate and logistic regression analysis was done to determine factors associated with experience of IPV in the index of pregnancy with P :s 0.05 being considered significant. Informed consent was sought from the participants. Confidentiality and privacy was maintained throughout the study. Ethical clearance was obtained from Kenyatta University Ethics Review Committee, and a research permit from National Council for Science, Technology and Innovation. The study found prevalence of overall, physical, psychological and sexual IPV in pregnancy to be 66.9%, 29.9%, 55.8% and 39.2% respectively. After adjusting for confounders, Overall IPV in pregnancy was significantly associated with Alcohol intake by partner (OR 2.116, 95% Cl 1.950-2.260, P 0.000) and partner's level of education (OR 1.265, 95% Cl 1.079-1.487, P 0.031), while psychological and sexual IPV was significantly associated with age of partner (OR 2.292, 95% Cl 2.123-2.722, P 0.007) and age of pregnant women (OR 1.174,95% Cl 1.001- 1.397 P 0.049) respectively. The care offered to antenatal attendees experiencing IPV is not in line with WHO guidelines and standard on handling gender based violence cases. The study findings indicates that IPV in pregnancy among antenatal attendees in West Pokot is very high. This unearths the weaknesses and gaps on gender based violence interventions both in health facilities and community level. Based on this study there is need for the national government, County government of West Pokot to integrate screening of fPV with maternal and child health services.