Relationships of Age at First Marriage with Reproductive Health Outcomes in Women of Childbearing Age in West Nusa Tenggara (Analysis of 2016 ICMM Data)

Abstract

Introduction: Women who marry for the first time at a young age have a higher risk of pregnancy than women who marry for the first time at an older age. Early marriage in general has an unfavorable impact on women's reproductive health outcomes. Objective: To determine the relationship between age at first marriage and reproductive health outcomes (number of children born, stillbirths and deaths, number of children currently owned, incidence of miscarriage/abortion, and use of family planning in the first year of marriage) in women of childbearing age in West Nusa Tenggara Province. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional method using secondary data from the Improving Contraceptive Method Mix (ICMM) in West Nusa Tenggara in 2016. The number of samples was 14,498 respondents. Sample selection used cluster sampling. Data were analyzed by univariate, bivariate with chi-square and independent T-test, and multivariate with logistic regression with risk factor model. Results: The results showed that as many as 50.9% of women of childbearing age married at a young age. Based on the results of multivariate analysis, it was found that the age at first marriage (especially at a young age) was associated with poor reproductive health outcomes, namely the number of children born, stillbirths and deaths, the number of children currently owned, and the use of family planning in the first year of marriage, after being controlled by variables of current age, education, occupation, area of residence, and socioeconomic status. Conclusions: The proportion of women of childbearing age in West Nusa Tenggara who marry at a young age is still very high and the reproductive health outcomes of women of childbearing age are still classified as poor.