Abstract

Adolescent pregnancy and subsequent childbirth to women less than 19 years have continued to constitute a major
global public health concern, affecting more than 16 million girls and young women worldwide. These high teen
pregnancy rates have health impacts. In Uganda, it is the leading cause of death and disability among Ugandan
women 15 to 19 years. The objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with early pregnancies
among adolescent girls attending selected health facilities in the Bushenyi district. The research design was crosssectional
and descriptive using the quantitative method for data collection. Ninety-eight (98) respondents
participated in this study. Data were analyzed using SPSS, descriptive, bi-variate and multivariate analyses at a 95%
confidence interval. The findings of this study show that the age of a teenager, place of residence, marital status,
education status of teenagers, teenagers’ parent’s education status, occupation of teenagers’ occupation and marital
status are the socio-economic factors that are significantly associated with early teenagers or adolescent pregnancies
are the socio-economic factors associated with early pregnancies among adolescent girls attending selected health
facilities in Bushenyi district. Teenagers between the ages 16-17 years have 60% higher odds (OR= 1.60) to get
pregnant compared with teenagers between ages 18-19years and most of these teenagers do not use contraceptives
hence are 2 times (OR=2.20) more likely to get pregnant compared to those who use. Also, most teenagers in
Bushenyi district have early sex in order to belong or be accepted among their peers and this has resulted in most
unplanned pregnancies. The likely consequences associated with early pregnancies among adolescents in the
Bushenyi district include; dropping out of school 34 (34.7%), single parenting 28 (28.6%), health complications 15
(15.3%) and stigmatization 12 (12.2%). Sex education and sensitization should be included in schools’ curricula in
order to educate teens on sex and reproductive health early enough.