Measuring access to contraceptive methods by ethnic groups in Colombia using small areas estimation

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Health Disparities
• Sociology of Health

Background:

• Afro-descendant and Indigenous women encounter significant barriers to contraceptive access, including societal and educational factors.
• A critical data gap hinders effective policy development for equitable access to family planning services.
• Small Area Estimation (SAE) is proposed to address data limitations for specific ethnic populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate key family planning indicators at state and ethnic group levels using SAE.
• To analyze factors influencing contraceptive use among different ethnic groups in women.
• To inform policy for improving contraceptive access and utilization.

Main Methods:

• Small Area Estimation (SAE) applied to population and ethnic groups, not solely geographic areas.
• Estimation of four state-level indicators: unmet need for family planning, need satisfied, contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR), and modern CPR.
• Analysis of factors associated with contraceptive use, including ethnicity and partner's ethnic background.

Main Results:

• SAE provided reliable estimates with low mean square errors across state and ethnic levels.
• Contraceptive prevalence rates were 70.6% (Indigenous), 76.6% (Afro-descendant), and 81.7% (non-ethnic) women.
• Relationship status positively correlates with contraceptive use, but shared ethnicity with a partner decreases use for Indigenous and Afro-descendant women.

Conclusions:

• Ethnicity itself does not determine lower contraceptive use; contextual factors and partner dynamics are key.
• Interventions must address partner and community involvement to reduce contraceptive disparities.
• Policy-making requires granular data on ethnic groups to ensure equitable family planning services.