The DHS Program

Trajectories into First-time Contraceptive Use Among Adolescents: A Comparison of Data from Burundi, Colombia, and Nepal (English) 

Document Type

Working Papers

Publication Topic(s)

Family Planning, Youth

Country(s)

Burundi, Nepal, Colombia

Language

English

Recommended Citation

MacQuarrie, K. L. D. 2024. Trajectories into First-time Contraceptive Use Among Adolescents: A Comparison of Data from Burundi, Colombia, and Nepal. DHS Working Papers No. 200. Rockville, Maryland, USA: ICF.

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Publication Date

December 2024

Publication ID

WP200

Abstract:

This study sought to identify and understand different trajectories adolescents take to their first use of contraception. It applied sequence and cluster analysis to contraceptive calendar data from Demographic and Health Surveys in Burundi, Colombia, and Nepal. Unique clusters—each representing a type of trajectory into first contraceptive use—were identified and described, comparisons and contrasts were drawn across countries, and associations were identified between adolescent characteristics and membership in each cluster. The study identified four unique clusters in Burundi, five in Colombia, and four in Nepal. More commonalities were found between the trajectories in Burundi and Nepal than between the trajectories in these two countries and those in Colombia. In Burundi and Nepal, adolescents typically adopted a method of contraception only after experiencing at least one pregnancy, and the four trajectories were differentiated primarily by number and timing of pregnancies and secondarily by method of contraception. In Colombia, by contrast, the five trajectories were differentiated primarily by the contraceptive method used. This study was a first attempt to apply new methods for segmenting longitudinal, behavioral data on adolescents. The results demonstrate that this analytical approach can be applied in a diverse range of settings in which contraceptive calendar data are available.