Table 1 Individual, household and community variables used in modeling adolescent modern contraceptive use in Zimbabwe

Individual and household variables

• Age

• Self-reported age of respondent at the time of the survey [15 to 17 Years/18 to 19 Years]

• Marital status

• Marital status of respondent [(Never Married; Ever Married (married/separated/divorced/widowed)]

• Age difference with partner/spouse

• The absolute difference between the self-reported age of respondent and the given age of the husband/spouse/partner [Large; Small or None]

• Parity

• Number of Children ever given birth [None; One or more]

• Education

• Highest Level of Education attained [None/Primary; Secondary or Higher]

• Religious affiliation

• Self-reported Religious Group [Protestant/Pentecostal, Traditional/Apostolic Sect, Catholics/Muslim/Other/None]

• Residence

• Current Place of Residence [Urban; Rural]

• Media access

• A composite variable derived from the frequency of access to newspaper/magazine, radio and television [No Access, Medium Access, High Access]

• Household wealth index

• A composite index of household possessions, assets and amenities [Low, Medium, High]

• Level of autonomy

• A composite variable showing woman’s participation in household decision making on health care, large household purchases, daily household purchases and mobility (visiting families and relatives) [Low Autonomy; High Autonomy]

Community level

• Quality of health care index per province

• A composite index of the mean number of reproductive health services in the Province provided to women

• Provincial level of access to health care

• Proportion of Women in the Province experiencing at least one problem accessing health care

• Mean number of children per province

• Mean Number of Children ever born per woman in the Province

• Province level of women educational attainment

• Mean Number of Years of Female Education per women in the Province

• Province level of female with at least secondary education attainment

• Proportion of Women in the Province with at least secondary education

• Province level of approval of contraceptive use

• Proportion of women in the Province with partners approving of use of contraception

• Province level of contraceptive use

• Contraceptive Prevalence Rate in the Province

• Province level of ANC attendance

• Proportion of Women in the Province Accessing ANC at Least Once

• Province level of health facility use for delivery

• Proportion of Women in the Province who Delivered their Last Child in a Health Facility

Province level of women labour force participation

• Proportion of Women in the Province Participating in Labor Force