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Trends in contraceptive use during the extended COVID-19 period in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from four population-based cohort studies

Caroline Moreau, INSERM/INED and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
Celia Karp, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Funmilola OlaOlorun, University of Ibadan
Pierre Akilimali, Université de Kinshasa
Georges Guiella, Institut Supérieur des Sciences de La Population de L’Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo
Peter Gichangi, International Center for Reproductive Health, Kenya
Shannon Wood, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Philip A. Anglewicz, Johns Hopkins University

A recent study based on national or subnational representative cohort studies in four sub-Saharan African settings suggests little impact of COVID-19 on women’s use of contraception. However, these results may mask widening disparities with rising poverty in the region. In this study, we use a recently collected round of data from Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Nigeria to explore contraceptive use dynamics using three time points: before COVID-19 (November 2019-January 2020), early in the pandemic (June-August 2020), and later in the pandemic (November 2020-January 2021). Samples include women aged 15-49 years randomly selected using a multi-stage sampling approach, ranging from 1,399 respondents in Nigeria to 9,558 in Kenya with an attrition rate ranging from 16-22%. We examine population-level trends by comparing the proportion of women in need of contraception, using contraception among women in need, and using long-acting methods among contraceptive users, by survey round. We examine these indicators by women’s sociodemographic characteristics and economic impact induced by COVID-19. Finally, we assess individual changes by identifying sociodemographic factors related to contraceptive adoption and discontinuation between the pre-COVID-19 and later COVID-19 periods

Keywords: Family planning and contraception, COVID-19, Cross-country comparative analyses, Longitudinal studies

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session P9.