Statistical Modeling of Factors Affecting the Length of Time for Water Collection among Rural Women in Northern Uganda

The study aimed to model the factors affecting the length of time for water collection among rural women in Northern Uganda. The specific objectives included determining the socio-demographic, economic, and community-level factors associated with water collection time, developing a binary logistic model to estimate these factors, and assessing the model's goodness of fit. The research utilized secondary data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS), administered by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS). It focused on analyzing data from 3,483 rural women aged 15 to 49 years who participated in the survey. The analysis was conducted at three levels: univariate, bivariate, and multivariate. The study found that a woman's age, sub-region, and household size were significant socio-demographic factors. The wealth quintile was the only economic factor associated with water collection time, while none of the community-level factors studied showed an impact. In conclusion, the risks of prolonged water collection time (exceeding 30 minutes) increased among older women compared to younger ones, among women from the Karamoja sub-region compared to those from the Lango, Acholi, and West Nile sub-regions, among households with larger family sizes, and among women from the poorest backgrounds. Therefore, targeted interventions should be implemented to assist older women, particularly those in the Karamoja sub-region and larger households, in reducing the time spent on water collection.