Peer-reviewed article
Determinants of early marriage among married women in Injibara town, north West Ethiopia: community-based cross-sectional study.
Minale Bezie, Dagne Addisu ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined early marriage among women in Injibara town, Ethiopia, finding that 44.8% of married women were married before age 18. The research identified key risk factors including low paternal education, family poverty, larger family size, and the woman's own lack of formal education. Early marriage is shown to harm girls' physical health, mental well-being, and educational opportunities. The study recommends improving access to formal education as a strategy to reduce early marriage.
Key points
- Prevalence of early marriage was 44.8% (167 of 373 women)
- Minimum age at first marriage was 9 years; maximum was 23 years
- Non-formal education of father increased odds of early marriage 2.32 times
- Family monthly income below 1000 Ethiopian birr increased odds 2.32 times
- Family size of 7 or more increased odds 3.59 times; respondent's non-formal education increased odds 5.16 times
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study measuring prevalence and associations at one point in time, so it cannot establish causation or determine whether factors preceded or followed the early marriage decision. The study was conducted only in Injibara town, so findings may not generalise to other regions of Ethiopia or similar settings.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Early marriage is occurred when one or both of the spouses are below the age of 18 years at the time of their first marriage. It is one of the major traditional practices in developing counties particularly in Ethiopia; which has significant physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional effects and reduces educational opportunities and the chance for personal growth for both boys and girls. Even though this traditional practice was the common cultural events in the study area, there is no prior study on the magnitude and its determinant factors. Hence, the study was aimed to determine the prevalence and determinant factors of early marriage among married women in Injibara town, North West Ethiopia. METHODS: A Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September to December 2018. A total of 373 women were included in the study. A multistage sampling procedure was applied to select the study participants. Data analysis was done by using SPSS versions 23. Both descriptive & analytical statistics were computed. Statistical significance was considered at P < 0.05 and the strength of association were assessed by using adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval. RESULT: The prevalence of early marriage was 167(44.8%). The minimum and maximum ages at first marriage were 9 and 23 years respectively. Non-formal educational level of the father [Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR) =2.32; 95%CI = 1.33-4.05], family's average monthly income <1000 Ethiopian birr [AOR = 2.32, 95%CI = 1.27-4.24], family size ≥7 [AOR = 3.59, 95%CI = 1.94-6.63] and non-formal education level of the respondents [AOR = 5.16; 95%CI = 2.87-9.28] were found to be associated with early marriage. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of early marriage was high in Injibara town, Ethiopia. Factors that tend to facilitate early marriage in this town include family income, family size, educational level of the father and that of the respondent. Improving on the strategies that promote formal education will reduce the level of early marriage in Injibara town, Ethiopia.