Estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome in Sub-Saharan African countries: propensity score matching analysis of recent demographic and health survey data

Abstract Introduction Globally adverse birth outcome is being a series public health problem. As studies showed, even though the etiologies are multifactorial, extreme age pregnancies have more risk for adverse birth outcome. This study determines the estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Getachew Teshale, Endalkachew Dellie, Andualem Yalew Aschalew, Chalie Tadie Tsehay, Nigusu Worku, Tesfahun Zemene Tafere, Nebebe Demis Baykemagn, Asebe Hagos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-025-07574-4
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850148946042683392
author Getachew Teshale
Endalkachew Dellie
Andualem Yalew Aschalew
Chalie Tadie Tsehay
Nigusu Worku
Tesfahun Zemene Tafere
Nebebe Demis Baykemagn
Asebe Hagos
author_facet Getachew Teshale
Endalkachew Dellie
Andualem Yalew Aschalew
Chalie Tadie Tsehay
Nigusu Worku
Tesfahun Zemene Tafere
Nebebe Demis Baykemagn
Asebe Hagos
author_sort Getachew Teshale
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Introduction Globally adverse birth outcome is being a series public health problem. As studies showed, even though the etiologies are multifactorial, extreme age pregnancies have more risk for adverse birth outcome. This study determines the estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome. Method The study analyzed data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was employed by using age as treatment variable, teenager as treated and non-teenagers as control group and weighted sample of 45,790 (non-teenagers = 41,769 and teenagers = 4,021). The outcome variable; adverse birth outcome was categorized as “Yes” if a woman had either preterm birth, still birth, low birth weight or macrosomia in her recent birth and “No” otherwise. Covariates that had significant association with the treatment and outcome variables were considered for PSM analysis. After testing of each matching techniques (nearest neighbor, kernel and radius), the nearest neighbor (10) approach produced better covariate balance and selected as the best matching algorism for our analysis. Finally, the effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome was measured and reported as average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) and the quality of matching and sensitivity to hidden bias was assed by t-statistics significance level and Mantel–Haenszel statistic respectively. Results This study found that around one in ten (8.7%) of the women had pregnancy between the age of 15 and 19 years. The magnitude of adverse birth outcome among teenagers and non-teenagers was also 45.4% and 39.9% respectively. Teenage pregnancy contributed to a 4.7% increasing adverse birth outcome (ATT = 4.7%). Similarly, the Average Treatment Effect on Untreated (ATU) was 4.8%. Conclusion This study revealed that around one in teen women had pregnancy between the age of 15 and 19 years and teenage pregnancy had more risk of having adverse birth outcomes as compared to non-teenagers. Thus, we recommend to policy makers and implementers to design policies and strategies to improve teenagers’ access to prenatal care, family planning, and sexual education, awareness of creation on teenage pregnancy risks.
format Article
id doaj-art-33bdb30cf0004b94b1a77116a44ab115
institution OA Journals
issn 1471-2393
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
spelling doaj-art-33bdb30cf0004b94b1a77116a44ab1152025-08-20T02:27:06ZengBMCBMC Pregnancy and Childbirth1471-23932025-04-0125111110.1186/s12884-025-07574-4Estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome in Sub-Saharan African countries: propensity score matching analysis of recent demographic and health survey dataGetachew Teshale0Endalkachew Dellie1Andualem Yalew Aschalew2Chalie Tadie Tsehay3Nigusu Worku4Tesfahun Zemene Tafere5Nebebe Demis Baykemagn6Asebe Hagos7Department of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of GondarDepartment of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of GondarDepartment of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of GondarDepartment of Health Informatics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of GondarDepartment of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of GondarDepartment of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of GondarDepartment of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of GondarDepartment of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of GondarAbstract Introduction Globally adverse birth outcome is being a series public health problem. As studies showed, even though the etiologies are multifactorial, extreme age pregnancies have more risk for adverse birth outcome. This study determines the estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome. Method The study analyzed data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was employed by using age as treatment variable, teenager as treated and non-teenagers as control group and weighted sample of 45,790 (non-teenagers = 41,769 and teenagers = 4,021). The outcome variable; adverse birth outcome was categorized as “Yes” if a woman had either preterm birth, still birth, low birth weight or macrosomia in her recent birth and “No” otherwise. Covariates that had significant association with the treatment and outcome variables were considered for PSM analysis. After testing of each matching techniques (nearest neighbor, kernel and radius), the nearest neighbor (10) approach produced better covariate balance and selected as the best matching algorism for our analysis. Finally, the effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome was measured and reported as average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) and the quality of matching and sensitivity to hidden bias was assed by t-statistics significance level and Mantel–Haenszel statistic respectively. Results This study found that around one in ten (8.7%) of the women had pregnancy between the age of 15 and 19 years. The magnitude of adverse birth outcome among teenagers and non-teenagers was also 45.4% and 39.9% respectively. Teenage pregnancy contributed to a 4.7% increasing adverse birth outcome (ATT = 4.7%). Similarly, the Average Treatment Effect on Untreated (ATU) was 4.8%. Conclusion This study revealed that around one in teen women had pregnancy between the age of 15 and 19 years and teenage pregnancy had more risk of having adverse birth outcomes as compared to non-teenagers. Thus, we recommend to policy makers and implementers to design policies and strategies to improve teenagers’ access to prenatal care, family planning, and sexual education, awareness of creation on teenage pregnancy risks.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-025-07574-4Teenage pregnancyAdverse birth outcomeSub-Saharan AfricaImpact
spellingShingle Getachew Teshale
Endalkachew Dellie
Andualem Yalew Aschalew
Chalie Tadie Tsehay
Nigusu Worku
Tesfahun Zemene Tafere
Nebebe Demis Baykemagn
Asebe Hagos
Estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome in Sub-Saharan African countries: propensity score matching analysis of recent demographic and health survey data
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Teenage pregnancy
Adverse birth outcome
Sub-Saharan Africa
Impact
title Estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome in Sub-Saharan African countries: propensity score matching analysis of recent demographic and health survey data
title_full Estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome in Sub-Saharan African countries: propensity score matching analysis of recent demographic and health survey data
title_fullStr Estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome in Sub-Saharan African countries: propensity score matching analysis of recent demographic and health survey data
title_full_unstemmed Estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome in Sub-Saharan African countries: propensity score matching analysis of recent demographic and health survey data
title_short Estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome in Sub-Saharan African countries: propensity score matching analysis of recent demographic and health survey data
title_sort estimated effect of teenage pregnancy on adverse birth outcome in sub saharan african countries propensity score matching analysis of recent demographic and health survey data
topic Teenage pregnancy
Adverse birth outcome
Sub-Saharan Africa
Impact
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-025-07574-4
work_keys_str_mv AT getachewteshale estimatedeffectofteenagepregnancyonadversebirthoutcomeinsubsaharanafricancountriespropensityscorematchinganalysisofrecentdemographicandhealthsurveydata
AT endalkachewdellie estimatedeffectofteenagepregnancyonadversebirthoutcomeinsubsaharanafricancountriespropensityscorematchinganalysisofrecentdemographicandhealthsurveydata
AT andualemyalewaschalew estimatedeffectofteenagepregnancyonadversebirthoutcomeinsubsaharanafricancountriespropensityscorematchinganalysisofrecentdemographicandhealthsurveydata
AT chalietadietsehay estimatedeffectofteenagepregnancyonadversebirthoutcomeinsubsaharanafricancountriespropensityscorematchinganalysisofrecentdemographicandhealthsurveydata
AT nigusuworku estimatedeffectofteenagepregnancyonadversebirthoutcomeinsubsaharanafricancountriespropensityscorematchinganalysisofrecentdemographicandhealthsurveydata
AT tesfahunzemenetafere estimatedeffectofteenagepregnancyonadversebirthoutcomeinsubsaharanafricancountriespropensityscorematchinganalysisofrecentdemographicandhealthsurveydata
AT nebebedemisbaykemagn estimatedeffectofteenagepregnancyonadversebirthoutcomeinsubsaharanafricancountriespropensityscorematchinganalysisofrecentdemographicandhealthsurveydata
AT asebehagos estimatedeffectofteenagepregnancyonadversebirthoutcomeinsubsaharanafricancountriespropensityscorematchinganalysisofrecentdemographicandhealthsurveydata