A Survey on Prevalence and Knowledge of Family Planning among Women of Childbearing Age in the Provincial Settings of the Gambia: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Table 1

Sociodemographic characteristics of participants.

Variables	Frequency (n = 634)	Percent
Local government areas
Basse	220	34.7
Kerewan	205	32.3
Janjanbureh	117	18.5
Kuntaur	92	14.5
Age of women (years)
15–19	93	14.7
20–24	195	30.8
25–29	177	27.9
30–34	80	12.6
35–39	54	8.5
40–44	30	4.7
45–49	5	0.8
Mean age (standard deviation): 26.2 (6.7) years
Educational status
Never attended school	154	24.3
Arabic education	166	26.2
Primary education	122	19.2
Secondary education	167	26.3
Tertiary education	25	3.9
Occupational status
Exclusively housewife	230	36.3
Farming	165	26
Trading	114	18
Civil servant	44	6.9
Student	44	6.9
Self-employed	27	4.3
Muslim religious teacher	10	1.6
Religion
Muslim	620	97.8
Christian	10	1.6
Traditional African religion	4	0.6
Marital status
Married/in union	564	89.0
Single	70	11.0
Monthly income
Less than or equal to D2000	360	56.8
D2001–D4000	158	24.9
More than D4000	116	18.3
Ethnicity
Mandinka	296	46.7
Fula	152	24
Sarahule	81	12.8
Wollof	61	9.6
Serere	28	4.4
Aku	15	2.4
Manjago	1	0.2