Assessing disparities in major family planning indicators by marital status
type: CreativeWork
description: Background: The indicators of modern contraceptive use and demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods are used to measure access to sexual and reproductive health services, but international estimates of these indicators are often restricted to married/in-union women, or else only highlight the value among all women in aggregate. This paper presents international estimates of these indicators disaggregated by marital status, allowing for the identification of disparities and deficits between groups that likely face distinct obstacles and stigmas related to sexual and reproductive healthcare. This paper also presents a sensitivity analysis aimed at assessing the potential for bias across marital status exhibited by the standard operationalized definition of having a need for family planning. Methods: Data on contraceptive use and need for family planning were extracted separately by marital status from 872 surveys conducted in 160 countries and territories since 1970. Variations in survey questions and definitions of modern versus traditional methods were adjusted via crosswalking as necessary. Indicators were modeled by-age using a Spatiotemporal Gaussian Process Regression to generate comprehensive time series estimates for 204 countries and territories from 1970 to 2019. Sensitivity analyses leveraged available microdata to perform counterfactual re-extractions of surveys to determine the proportion of contraceptive users who satisfy the current criteria for having a need for family planning. Results: Age-standardized global modern contraceptive prevalence in 2019 was 53.9% (53.0-54.8%) for married/in-union women and 24.1% (23.3-24.9%) for unmarried women. Modern contraceptive prevalence for ages 15-49 in 2019 ranged from 0.2% (0.1-0.4%) among unmarried women in Afghanistan to 92.2% (90.1-93.8%) among married/in-union women in China. Age-standardized global demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods in 2019 was 72.3% (71.5-73.1%) for ma…
abstract: Background: The indicators of modern contraceptive use and demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods are used to measure access to sexual and reproductive health services, but international estimates of these indicators are often restricted to married/in-union women, or else only highlight the value among all women in aggregate. This paper presents international estimates of these indicators disaggregated by marital status, allowing for the identification of disparities and deficits between groups that likely face distinct obstacles and stigmas related to sexual and reproductive healthcare. This paper also presents a sensitivity analysis aimed at assessing the potential for bias across marital status exhibited by the standard operationalized definition of having a need for family planning. Methods: Data on contraceptive use and need for family planning were extracted separately by marital status from 872 surveys conducted in 160 countries and territories since 1970. Variations in survey questions and definitions of modern versus traditional methods were adjusted via crosswalking as necessary. Indicators were modeled by-age using a Spatiotemporal Gaussian Process Regression to generate comprehensive time series estimates for 204 countries and territories from 1970 to 2019. Sensitivity analyses leveraged available microdata to perform counterfactual re-extractions of surveys to determine the proportion of contraceptive users who satisfy the current criteria for having a need for family planning. Results: Age-standardized global modern contraceptive prevalence in 2019 was 53.9% (53.0-54.8%) for married/in-union women and 24.1% (23.3-24.9%) for unmarried women. Modern contraceptive prevalence for ages 15-49 in 2019 ranged from 0.2% (0.1-0.4%) among unmarried women in Afghanistan to 92.2% (90.1-93.8%) among married/in-union women in China. Age-standardized global demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods in 2019 was 72.3% (71.5-73.1%) for ma…
author: Irvine, Caleb
language: en_US
keywords: Contraception, Family Planning, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Public health
date published: 2019-10-15
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:58:20Z
provider: University of Washington
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Washington

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1773/44659