Table 2 Multilevel binary logistic regression analysis of factors associated with early sexual initiation in East Africa

Age

 15–19

1

1

 20–24

0.60 [0.56–0.63]**

0.65 [0.61–0.69]**

Age at cohabitation

 < 15

14 [12.75–16.02]**

13.4 [11.9–15.0]**

 15–19

1.50 [1.35–1.67]**

1.38 [1.23–1.53]**

 20–24

1.50 [1.84–2.08]*

1

Marital status

 Single

1

1

 Married

1.96 [1.84–2.08]

1.86 [1.73–1.97]*

Working status

 No

1

1

 Yes

0.89 [0.85–0.94]

1.02 [0.95–1.08]

Wealth index

 Poor

1

1

 Middle

0.81 [0.75–0.87]

0.79 [0.73–0.85]*

 Rich

0.81 [0.74–0.85]

0.76 [0.70–0.82]*

Educational status

 No education

1

1

 Primary

0.76 [0.71–0.82]*

0.73 [0.67–0.78]**

 Secondary and above

0.31 [0.28–0.34]*

0.31 [0.27–0.33]**

Reading newspaper

 No

1

1

 Yes

0.78 [0.72–0.85] **

0.77 [0.71–0.83]**

Listing radio

 No

1

1

 Yes

1.04[0.98–1.10]

0.95[0.89–1.01]

Watching TV

 No

1

1

 Yes

1.01 [0.94–1.08]

0.94 [0.87–1.01]

Contraceptive use

 No

1

1

 Yes

1.07 [1.01–1.13]*

1.20 [1.12–1.26]**

Place of residence

 Rural

1

1

 Urban

0.76 [0.72–0.81]

1.16 [1.07–1.26]**

Country

 Burundi

1.57 [1.17–2.10]**

1.8 [1.34–2.47]**

 Ethiopia

7.7 [5.80–10.26]**

4.8 [3.56–6.61]**

 Kenya

7.9 [6.01–10.43]**

7.6 [5.66–10.14]**

 Comoros

9.8[7.29–13.19]**

7.5 [5.45–10.44]**

 Madagascar

13 [10.02–17.40]**

9.9 [7.40–13.29]**

 Malawi

6.2 [4.69–8.15]**

6.3 [4.66–8.37]**

 Mozambique

15 [11.77–20.45]**

17 [12.78–22.96]**

 Rwanda

1

1

 Tanzania

6 [4.61–8.13]**

7.7 [5.67–10.31]**

 Uganda

6.8 [5.13–8.92]**

9.4 [6.99–12.49]**

 Zambia

8 [6.15–10.75]**

7.30 [5.43–9.83]**

 Zimbabwe

2.4 [1.76–3.30]**

3.14 [2.24–4.40]**

Random effect

 Community variance

0.69

0.68

0.66

 ICC%

17.14%

17.26%

16.89%

 MOR

2.14

2.13

2.09

Model comparison

 Log likelihood

−20,697.13

−24,127.53

−19,906.35

 Deviance

41,394.26

48,255.06

39,812.70