Six in ten female youths in low-income East African countries had problems in accessing health care: a multilevel analysis of recent demographic and health surveys from 2016–2021

Table 1 Individual and community level characteristics of youths in low-income East Africa (n = 51,064)

Variable	Category	Weighted frequency	Percent
Age	15–19 years	27,210	53.29
	20–24 years	23,854	46.71
Sex of household head	Male	36,760	71.99
	Female	14,304	28.01
Respondents educational level	No formal education	4,002	7.84
	Primary education	25,882	50.69
	Secondary education	19,444	38.08
	Higher	1,736	3.40
Respondents occupation	Currently working	21,932	42.98
	Currently not working	29,132	57.02
Marital status	Single	32,872	64.37
	Married	18,192	35.63
Husband’s educational level	No formal education	2,308	12.69
	Primary education	8,772	48.22
	Secondary	5,929	32.59
	Higher	841	4.62
	Don’t know	342	1.88
Wealth index	Poor	18,454	36.14
	Middle	9,650	18.90
	Rich	22,960	44.96
Currently pregnant	Yes	4,261	8.35
	No	46,803	91.65
Wanted pregnancy	Yes	4,178	98.04
	No	83	1.96
Having living children	Yes	20,043	39.25
	No	31,021	60.75
Family size	1–5	28,008	54.85
	> 5	23,056	45.15
Decision-making autonomy for healthcare	Autonomous	13,120	72.12
	Not autonomous	5,072	27.88
Beating is justified if the wife goes without telling husband	Yes	5,027	27.63
	No	13,165	72.37
Covered by health insurance	Yes	6,467	12.67
	No	44,597	87.33
Media exposed	Yes	32,791	64.22
	No	18,273	35.78
Residence	Urban	12,180	23.85
	Rural	38,884	76.15
Countries	Burundi	7,103	13.91
	Ethiopia	6143	12.03
	Madagascar	7,906	15.48
	Malawi	10,421	20.41
	Rwanda	5,672	11.11
	Uganda	8,086	15.83
	Zambia	5,733	11.23
Community level poverty	Low	26,181	51.27
	High	24,883	48.73
Community level education	Low	25,554	50.04
	high	25,510	49.96
Community-level media exposure	Low	25,243	49.43
	High	25,821	50.57

ISSN: 1472-6963