Prevalence and associated factors of early sexual initiation among youth female in sub-Saharan Africa: a multilevel analysis of recent demographic and health surveys

Table 2 Socio-demographic characteristics of youth female in Sub-Saharan Africa: based on 2011–2021 DHS data

Variables	Categories	Weighted frequency	Weighted Percentage
Age of women (in years)	15–19	99,452	53.77
Age of women (in years)	20–24	84,489	45.23
Maternal educational status	No- education	32,122	17.37
	Primary	60,449	32.69
	Secondary and above	92,366	49.94
Marital status	Not married	132,315	71.5
Marital status	Married	52,627	28.46
Religion	Catholic	55,082	29.78
	Muslim	1,955	1.06
	Protestant	93,271	50.43
	Other^a	34,634	18.73
Wealth index	Poor	64,221	34.72
	Middle	35,764	19.34
	Rich	84,958	45.94
Family size	1–4	62,485	33.79
	5–10	98,293	53.15
	≥ 11	24,165	13.07
Occupation	No	86,043	46.52
Occupation	Yes	98,899	53.48
Heard about STI	No	9,037	4.89
Heard about STI	Yes	175,904	95.11
Media exposure	No	52,247	28.25
Media exposure	Yes	132,695	71.75
Decision to get medical care	No	38	0.02
Decision to get medical care	Yes	184,954	99.98
Chewing tobacco	No	156,784	84.77
Chewing tobacco	Yes	28,158	15.23
Cigarette smoker	No	165,897	89.70
Cigarette smoker	Yes	19,046	10.30
Community level variables
Place of residence	Urban	78,477	42.43
Place of residence	Rural	106,465	57.57
Region in SSA	East Africa	72,718	39.32
	Central Africa	34,609	18.71
	West Africa	74,849	40.47
	Southern Africa	2,765	1.50
Income status	Lower	107,236	57.98
	Lower middle	56,016	30.29
	Upper middle	21,690	11.73
DHS year	2011–2015	70,964	38.36
DHS year	2016–2021	114,028	61.64
Community media exposure	Low	90,009	48.67
Community media exposure	High	94,933	51.33
Community-women education	Low	92,604	50.06
Community-women education	High	92,388	49.94

Other^a mean religions such as orthodox, Methodist, animist, Jehovah, Universal and no religion, etc.

ISSN: 1472-6874