Risk factors for intimate partner emotional violence among women in union in Uganda.

Introduction: Despite the growing evidence of the prevalence of gender-based violence in Uganda, less is known about the factors influencing intimate partner emotional violence (IPEV) among married women in the country. This study investigated the social demographic factors associated with IPEV among married women aged 15 years and older. Data and methods: The study used the 2016 Uganda Demographic Healthy Survey (UDHS) data. A weighted sample of 5,642 women who had been in a union was selected. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to analyze the predictors of IPEV. Results: Almost four in 10 (38%) married women experienced IPEV. Witnessing parental violence (OR = 1.37, CI = 0.59-0.92), partner's controlling behavior (OR = 4.26, CI = 3.29-5.52), and attaining age 35+ (OR = 1.44, CI = 1.06-1.95) increased the odds of IPEV. Residing in rural areas (OR = 0.004, CI = 0.48-0.99) and having higher education (OR = 0.51, CI = 0.26-1.00) decreased the odds of IPEV. Conclusion and implications: Witnessing parental violence, alcohol consumption, age, place of residence, partner's controlling behavior, and level of education influence IPEV among married women in Uganda. The findings have several implications including strengthening IPEV-prevention campaigns, women empowerment, and alcohol consumption regulations.

Factors that influence safe water drinking practices among older persons in slums of Kampala: Analyzing disparities in boiling water.

INTRODUCTION: Safe drinking water practice is a key public health promotion strategy for reducing the spread of waterborne diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence boiling water practice among older persons in informal settlements of Kampala. METHODS: We collected primary data on "Access to safe water and health services among older persons in informal settlements of Kampala in October 2022. The study interviewed 593 men and women aged 60 years and older. The Complementary log-log multivariable technique was used to establish the association between boiling water practice and selected independent variables. RESULTS: The results show that nearly 8% of the respondents did not boil their water for drinking. The findings show that the female older persons had increased odds of boiling water to make it safe for drinking compared to their male counterparts (OR = 1.859, 95% CI = 1.384-2.495). Other factors associated with boiling water practice among older persons in the informal settlements of Kampala were; living alone, quality of house, and type of water source. CONCLUSION: Basing on our findings, we find that older women are more likely to use safe drinking water practice (boiling) compared to the male older persons. Health education majorly targeting older men about the importance and health benefits associated with safe water drinking practices should be prioritized by policy makers. There is need to improve housing conditions of older persons to minimize typhoid, diarrhea and other health risks associated with drinking unsafely managed water.

Urban Household Energy Use: Analyzing Correlates of Charcoal and Firewood Consumption in Kampala City, Uganda.

Charcoal and firewood contribute to greenhouse gas emissions in rural and urban areas. Although there is information about energy types used for cooking in Kampala urban environment, less is known about the correlates of charcoal and firewood consumption. This study investigated the predictors of charcoal and firewood use for cooking using the 2014 Uganda Census data set. Analysis was conducted on 41,250 households in Kampala City. Multinomial logistic regression model was fitted to predict charcoal and firewood use. Findings indicate that older household heads were more likely to use firewood than their younger counterparts. Charcoal and firewood were more likely to be used in households whose household heads were females, married and formerly married, and lived in dwelling units with two and more rooms. Conversely, chances of using charcoal and firewood decreased with the level of education, living in detached house and flat, and residing in shelter with cement screed or tile/concrete. The findings have several implications including long-term planning for improving formal education conditions, strengthening female empowerment, and upgrading dwelling conditions of the households in Kampala City.

Determinants of female sterilization method uptake among women of reproductive age group in Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Despite its great effectiveness, safety and convenience for women who do not wish to have more children; female sterilization method uptake in Uganda is very low. This study aimed at establishing factors associated with female sterilization uptake in Uganda. METHODS: Secondary data were sourced from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS). We analyzed all (18,506) women aged 15-49 years who were interviewed in the 2016 UDHS. This sample was categorized into women who were sterilized and those using other modern methods. We used a Chi-square test to measure the association between the current uptake of female sterilization by the women and selected independent variables. Multivariate analysis applied the complimentary log-log model to determine the net effect of selected characteristics on female sterilization uptake in Uganda. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of female sterilization among modern contraceptive users was 2%. Female sterilization uptake was highly associated with age of 30 years and older (OR = 34.49;, 95%CI:13.33-99.88), middle wealth status (OR = 0.65, 95% CI:0.47-0.92), women who had ever given birth to at least four children (OR = 3.19, 95% CI:1.63-6.22) and decision making by either the husband/partner (OR = 2.42, 95% CI:1.55-3.78) or jointly between a woman and her husband/partner (OR = 1.38, 95% CI:1.02-1.86). CONCLUSIONS: The uptake of female sterilization was very low, and this was associated with; age, household wealth, parity and contraceptive decision-maker. The uptake of Family planning programs needs to focus on male engagement to increase joint decision making on family planning issues especially those relating to fertility limitation. Government and its other implementing partners need to scale-up efforts that increase accessibility to information on female sterilization services for women who have completed their fertility.

Determinants of Change in Fertility among Women in Rural Areas of Uganda.

Fertility among rural women in Uganda continues to decline. Studies on fertility in Uganda have focused on the overall fertility in the country. In this study, we focus on determinants of change in fertility among rural women in Uganda using a multivariate Poisson decomposition technique to quantify the contribution of changes in the socioeconomic and demographic composition of women which we also refer to as the characteristic effects and changes in their fertility behavior (the coefficients' effects or risk of childbearing) to the overall reduction in fertility among women in rural areas during the 2006-2016 period. The "characteristics effects" are used to mean the effect of changing composition of women by the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics between 2006 and 2016. On the other hand, fertility behavior also presented as coefficients' effects mean changes in the risk or likelihood of giving birth to children by the rural women between the two survey years. Our findings indicate that the mean number of children ever born (MCEB) reduced from 4.5 to 3.9 in 2006 and this reduction was associated with both the changes in composition of women and fertility behavior. The composition of women contributed to 42% while the fertility behavior contributed to 58% of the observed reduction. The education level attained and the age at first sex showed significant contributions on both components of the decomposition. The observed decline in fertility is largely associated with the variation in the risk of childbearing among the rural women. The variation in the risk of childbearing by education and age at first sex of the rural women showed to be the biggest contribution to the observed change in fertility. Continued improvements in access, attendance, and completion of secondary schools by women in rural areas will be the key drivers to Uganda's overall transition to low fertility. Furthermore, with improved access to mass media in the rural areas, there can be changes in attitudes and large family size preferences which can create a conducive environment for the utilization of family planning services in the rural communities. Efforts should therefore focus on applying appropriate methods to deliver packaged family planning messages to these communities.

Factors associated with older persons' physical health in rural Uganda.

INTRODUCTION: The proportion of older persons in developing countries is increasing with no clear evidence of improvement in physical health. The aim of this paper was to examine the factors associated with older persons' physical health in rural Uganda. METHODS: This paper is based on a cross-sectional study of 912 older persons age 60 years and older across four major regions of Uganda. The study was conceptualized basing on World Health Organization quality of life BREF (WHOQOL-BREF). Analysis was done at three levels, that is, frequency distributions were generated to describe background characteristics of respondents and cross-tabulations were done to determine associations between dependent and each of the independent variables. Ordinal logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of physical health. RESULTS: The likelihood of good physical health is high among older persons (Ops) who controlled their household assets (OR = 3.64; CI = 1.81-7.30) or the household assets controlled by their spouses (OR = 4.44; CI = 1.91-10.32) relative to those whose household assets were controlled by their children. There is high likelihood of good physical health among those who engage in physical activities (OR = 2.28; CI = 1.52-3.43) compared to those who do not. CONCLUSION: The findings have various policy implications, including creating an enabling environment and building capacities of older persons to remain in control of their household assets. Interventions focusing on deepening sensitization of older persons about importance of physical exercises could be a viable strategy for improving physical health of older persons.

Determinants of change in fertility pattern among women in Uganda during the period 2006-2011.

BACKGROUND: Studies on fertility in Uganda have attributed fertility reduction to a shift in the overall characteristics of women of reproductive age. It is not clear whether the reduction in fertility is due to changing socioeconomic and demographic characteristics over time or stems from the shifts in the reproductive behavior of women. In this paper we examine how fertility rates have changed between 2006 and 2011 and whether these changes have resulted from changing characteristics or from changing reproductive behavior of women. METHODS: Using the 2006 and 2011 Demographic and Health Survey data for Uganda, Multivariate Poisson Decomposition techniques were applied to evaluate observed changes in fertility. RESULTS: Changing characteristics of women aged 15-49 years significantly contributed to the overall change in fertility from 2006 to 2011. The change observed in older age at first marriage was the major contributor to the changes in fertility. The contribution that can be attributed to changes in reproductive behavior was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study finds that the major contribution to the reduction in fertility between 2006 and 2011 was from increased education and delayed marriage among women. Continued improvement in secondary school completion, will lead to older age at first marriage and will continue to be an important factor in Uganda's declining fertility rates.