Adolescent Marriage in Northeast Ethiopia: The Case of Delanta District\n

Abstract

Background Marriage below the age of 20 brings negative health consequences to female adolescents. Ethiopia is one of the top ten countries with\xa0the highest rates of child marriage despite the minimum legal age at first marriage was 18 years. Objective To assess the prevalence of adolescent marriage and its associated factors among young women of Delanta District, North-East Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 597 adolescent women between the age of 15 and 19. A cluster sampling technique\xa0was used for this study. Data were entered and cleaned by EpiData-3.02 and analyzed by SPSS-20. Results Around 40% of adolescents were married at the time of the survey. Adolescent marriage was twice higher among girls below the age of 18 (AOR:\xa02.12, 95%CI (1.15, 3.90)). Lack of comprehensive knowledge on obstetrics fistula prevention increases the risk of adolescent marriage by three folds. Conclusion This study indicated that adolescent marriage was higher in the area. Delaying the age at first marriage by implementing the Ethiopian Family\xa0Code proclamation is needed