Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract NACNDC/19JASH062 (Oral) | Published: 25 Nov 2025
Lillian Ojanduru1,&, Godfrey Siu2, Justine Bukenya1, Nazarius Tumwesigye1
1Makerere University, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Kampala, Uganda, 2 Makerere University, College of Health Sciences, Child Health and Development Centre, Kampala, Uganda
&Corresponding author: Lillian Ojanduru, Makerere University School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Kampala, Uganda. Email: lynojan@gmail.com, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8381-3724
Received: 14 Sept 2025, Accepted: 20 Oct 2025, Published: 25 Nov 2025
Domain: Reproductive Health
Keywords: Contraceptives, youth, social norms, Sexual Reproductive Health
©Lillian Ojanduru et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Lillian Ojanduru et al. Social norms related factors associated with contraceptive service utilization among youth 15-24 years in Karamoja region, Northeastern Uganda. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc6):00062. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO6-00062
Contraceptive prevalence in the Karamoja region of Northeastern Uganda is 10%, compared to the national prevalence of 38%. The low prevalence is partly linked to social norms which exacerbate early marriages, teenage pregnancies, and other SRH problems. Little is known about the extent to which social norms influence young people’s contraceptive use. A study was conducted to assess the influence of social norms on contraceptive use.
A cross-sectional study employing a quantitative data collection method was conducted. A three-point Likert-scale social norm tool coded as agree, partially agree, and disagree was developed through Exploratory Factor Analysis, and was used to collect data from 448 participants. The median scores were obtained to generate dichotomous variables indicating high and low levels of agreement. The researchers performed bivariate analysis, and a Modified Poisson regression to assess the association between social norms and contraceptive use.
The researchers found a higher prevalence of contraceptive use among youth who disagreed with negative norms. Specifically, contraceptive use was 12% higher among youth who disagreed with restrictive norms on the provision of sexual education (APR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.01–1.21), 59% higher among those who disagreed with the norm of forceful engagement in sex (APR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.37–0.45), and 15% higher among those who rejected family planning myths and misconceptions (APR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.03–1.28). Agreement with supportive reproductive health norms increased contraceptive prevalence by 4.6 times (APR = 4.62, 95% CI: 4.16–5.13). Women showed greater support for social norms compared to men.
Negative norms discourage contraceptive use. We recommend actively involving women in the co-design of interventions to improve contraceptive literacy. Efforts should focus on expanding access to accurate family planning information to dispel myths and misconceptions, promoting comprehensive sexual education, encouraging men’s involvement in SRH.
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