O-70 The influence of empowerment on contraceptive use in reproductive aged Guyanese women: An analysis using DHS data

Methods: The Guyana DHS dataset for 2009 was used along with an accompanying recode manual. Of 4996 women surveyed, 2656 were eligible for contraceptive use. Analyses were conducted using StataSE 16. A binary regression model was created to understand the determinants of family planning. Current contraceptive use was the dependent variable with women’s empowerment (represented by : domestic violence, sexual autonomy and decision-making) as the independent variable. Control variables included age, wealth index, location of residence, exposure to media, and number of living children.

Results: Women with low empowerment category (none, low, medium, high) in the sexual autonomy index had 2.7 (95% CI 1.46, 5.01) times higher odds of using modern contraception compared to women with no empowerment. There were no other significant predictors of contraceptive use among the empowerment variables.The remaining empowerment indices had no effect on contraceptive use. Women aged 45-49 years had half (95% CI 0.31, 0.81) the odds of using modern contraception compared to those aged 15-19 years. The middle and richest classes of women had 1.63 (95% CI 1.13, 2.34) and 1.84 (95% CI 1.23, 2.75) higher odds of using contraception than those in the poorest class. Indigenous women had 32% (95% CI 0.48, 0.97) lower odds of using contraception compared to Afro-Guyanese.

Conclusion: Some amount of sexual autonomy among women predicted significantly higher odds of using contraception but in the domestic violence and decision-making indices, there were no significant associations. O-71 The prevalence of Venous Thromboemboli