Background: The Rwandan government has set family planning (FP) as one of the goals and
strategies to improve the health of the population. However, unmet needs for modern
contraceptive methods are still a problem, as is the variance of modern contraceptive use among
the five regions of Rwanda.
Aim: This study aimed at assessing key factors that contribute to the variance of modern
contraceptive use between five regions of Rwanda.
Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of the Rwanda Demographic health survey, 2010.
A total of 492 clusters (urban/rural), composed by 12,792 households were selected in the
survey; 13,790 women of reproductive age were systematically selected from selected
households and interviewed about maternal and reproductive health issues. 6834 married women
or living with their partners at the time of the survey were selected for this study.
Results: Socio-economic and demographic characteristics of women, access to family planning
(FP) information and women’s empowerment were associated with the variance of modern
contraceptive use between the regions. Women’s empowerment was positively associated with
modern contraceptive use in all regions. Access to information was associated with modern
contraceptive use in all regions except in the North region (AOR: 1.24, 95%CI: O.8- 1.92).
Conclusion: This study highlights that the variance of modern contraceptive use may due to the
way in which FP factors are associated with modern contraceptive use vary between regions and
how different FP factors occur among regions. Further researches are needed to investigate
potential factors on supply side that influence such variance.