Patterns and determinants of modern contraceptive use and intention to usecontraceptives among Malawian women of reproductive ages (15–49 years)

Table 1 Distribution of sampled women by socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, Malawi DHS, 2015/16

Variable	N	%
Predisposing factors
*Age*
15–19	5273	21.5
20–24	5094	20.7
25–29	3976	16.2
30–34	3648	14.9
35–39	2988	12.2
40–44	2022	8.2
45–49	1561	6.4
*Ethnicity*
Chewa	7317	30.8
Tumbuka	2612	11.0
Lomwe	4453	18.7
Tonga	942	4.0
Yao	2782	11.7
Sena	1153	4.8
Nkhonde	335	1.4
Ngoni	3085	13.0
Mang’anja	569	2.4
Nyanja	547	2.3
*Religion*
Christian	21,685	88.4
Moslem	2726	11.1
Non-religious	123	0.5
*Education level*
No education	2779	11.3
Primary	15,028	61.2
Secondary	6061	24.7
Tertiary	694	2.8
Enabling factors
*Wealth status*
Poor	8708	35.5
Middle income	9405	38.3
Rich	6449	26.3
*Partner education level*
No education	1456	9.2
Primary	8377	53.2
Secondary	5008	31.8
Tertiary	915	5.8
*Place of residence*
Urban	5247	21.4
Rural	19,315	78.6
*Educated on family planning*
No	325	10.0
Yes	2926	90.0
*Region*
Northern region	4803	19.6
Central region	8417	34.3
Southern region	11,342	46.2
Need factors
*Desire of children*
Both want same	8605	69.7
Partner wants more	2540	20.6
Partner wants fewer	1206	9.7
*Ever terminated pregnancy*
No	22,102	90.0
Yes	2460	10.0
Outcome variables
*Contraceptive use*
No	9242	45.2
Yes	11,194	54.8
*Intention to use contraceptive*
No	4126	30.1
Yes	9242	69.9
Total	24,562	100

ISSN: 2055-7426