Determinants of Current Contraceptive Use among Women of Reproductive Age: A Multinomial Logistic Regression Analysis

In Nigeria, uptake of contraception is shaped by social, economic, demographic, and informational factors, yet patterns may differ between traditional and modern methods. the aim of this study is to examine the determinants of current contraceptive use among women of reproductive age in Nigeria and the research objectives are to estimate the prevalence of non-use, traditional-method use, and modern-method use, and to assess the association between contraceptive-use category and selected demographic, socioeconomic, and media-exposure factors. This study used secondary data from DHS programme in Nigeria comprising 104,557 women of reproductive age. Current contraceptive use was categorized into three outcomes: not using any method, using a traditional method, and using a modern method. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize contraceptive-use patterns. Bivariate associations were assessed using chi-square procedures, and multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted relative risk ratios (aRRRs) with 95% confidence intervals, with non-use as the reference category. Weighted prevalence estimates showed that 79.9% of women were not using any contraceptive method, 4.7% were using traditional/folkloric methods, and 15.5% were using modern methods. Education, household wealth, parity, religion, media exposure, and employment status were significant predictors of contraceptive use. Compared with women with no education, women with higher education had significantly higher relative risks of traditional-method use (aRRR: 3.35; 95% CI: 2.93-3.83) and modern-method use (aRRR: 2.15; 95% CI: 1.99-2.32). Women in the richest wealth quintile were more likely than those in the poorest quintile to use traditional methods (aRRR: 6.58; 95% CI: 5.51-7.86) and modern methods (aRRR: 2.41; 95% CI: 2.21-2.62). Rural residence was associated with lower modern contraceptive use (aRRR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.86-0.94), while radio exposure and current employment were positively associated with both traditional and modern method use. Current contraceptive use in Nigeria is strongly associated with women’s education, household wealth, reproductive history, religion, media exposure, and employment. Modern method uptake remains lower among rural, poorer, and less educated women. Interventions to improve contraceptive use should address both social inequalities and access barriers, especially for disadvantaged populations.