Examining the decline in modern contraception usage among married women in Bangladesh: Applying Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis

• Published in: PloS one 2024-05, Vol.19 (5), p.e0304122-e0304122
• Main Authors: Kabir, Samia, Tareq, Muhammad, Hossain, Md Ismail
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Analysis; Bangladesh; Biology and Life Sciences; Birth control; Contraception; Contraception - methods; Contraception - statistics & numerical data; Contraception Behavior - statistics & numerical data; Contraception Behavior - trends; Contraceptives; Decision making; Decomposition; Dependent variables; Endowment; Engineering and Technology; Family planning; Female; Fertility; Health surveys; Households; Humans; Independent variables; Marriage; Married women; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Middle Aged; Oral contraceptives; People and Places; Population; Population growth; Postpartum period; Pregnancy; Regression analysis; Regression models; Reproductive sterilization; Research and Analysis Methods; Sample size; Social Sciences; Spouses; Surveys; Womens health; Working women; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304122

Controlling population expansion and reducing unintended pregnancies through the use of modern contraceptives is a cost-effective strategy. In recent years, the rate of modern contraceptive use in Bangladesh has been declining. So, this study aimed to investigate the associated factors of the deterioration in modern contraceptive usage. This study used data from two successive Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (2014 and 2017-18) and applied the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis to understand the drivers. A popular binary logistic regression model is fitted to determine the factors that influence the use of modern contraceptive methods over the years. This study revealed that highly educated women were more likely to use modern contraception methods, and their use increased by 3 percent over the years. Factors such as women's working status, husband's education, number of living children, and fertility preference were found significantly associated with decreased usage of modern contraception methods over years. The result of the Blinder-Oaxaca (BO) decomposition analysis found a significant decrease between 2014 and 2018. Respondent's age, working status, husband's age, opinion on decision making, region, and media exposure were the most significant contributors to explaining the shift between 2014 and 2018. The two factors that contributed most to narrowing the difference between the two surveys were women's decision on own health (26%), and employment status (35%). The factors that influence modern contraceptive prevalence are important to know for policy implication purposes in Bangladesh. The findings indicate the need for further improvement of factors for balancing the usage of modern contraception methods.