Multidimensional and Logistic Regression Analysis of Unmet Family Planning Needs among Women of Childbearing Age in Donga Department, Benin

This article assesses the unmet needs for family planning among women of childbearing age in the Donga department, Benin, using a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) based on data from a field survey conducted among 466 women of childbearing age in 280 households and 57 resource people. To this end, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and logistic regression were used to identify the profiles of women with unmet needs and their associated factors. The results indicate that 89.6% of unmet needs concern birth spacing, while 10.4% concern birth control. The explanatory multivariate analysis made it possible to identify the woman’s age, the ideal number of children, the type of household the woman belongs to, the woman’s area of residence, her level of education, and her main occupation as significant determinants of unmet need for birth spacing. As for unmet needs for birth control, only the woman’s age group and ideal number of children had a significant influence at the 5% threshold. In-depth interviews with resource persons highlighted that education is a central element influencing the unmet need for family planning. Thus, it is recommended to improve awareness about family planning services by promoting education for all, integrating sexual and reproductive health into school curricula, and raising awareness among women and men.