Authors: Abigail R. Greenleaf, Saifuddin Ahmed, Caroline Moreau, Georges Guiella, & Yoonjoung Choi
Journal: Contraception, 99(3). March 2019
This article examines the association between cell phone ownership and modern contraceptive use among women in Burkina Faso. The research seeks to understand the opportunity to track family planning indicators using cell phone surveys or provide family planning interventions remotely using data from the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) program. Researchers used PMA2020’s cross-sectional, nationally representative population-based survey of women of reproductive age in Burkina Faso, which was conducted between November 2016 and January 2017, for the analysis. The researchers found:
- Among the 3,215 female respondents aged 15 to 49 years, 47% reported cell phone ownership. Overall, 22% of women reported current modern contraceptive use.
- Women who owned a cell phone were more likely to report modern contraceptive use than those who did not (29% versus 15%).
- Adjusted for covariates (age, wealth, education, area of residence and marital status), the odds of reporting modern contraceptive use were 68% higher among cell phone owners compared to nonowners.
- Method mix was substantially more diverse among those who owned cell phones compared to their counterparts.