Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2001-2002 - Measure DHS

Almost four in ten (38 percent) of the men interviewed were sexually active in the 4 weeks beforethe survey, while 43 percent had had sex in the previous year but not in the previous month. Ten percenthad not been sexually active in the previous year and 9 percent had never had sex. As with women, sexualactivity increases with age among men, with the highest level among men in their 40s and early 50s. Menin union are much more likely to be sexually active than those never in union. Men in urban areas are lesslikely to be sexually active than men in rural areas (33 and 40 percent, respectively). Recent sexualactivity is highest in Luapula province (55 percent), followed by North-Western and Western provinces.The lowest rates of recent sexual activity are in Central and Copperbelt provinces. As with women, thereis no clear pattern of sexual activity by education.Comparison of data from the 2001-2002 ZDHS and the 1996 ZDHS shows a substantial decreasein the level of recent sexual activity among young men: the proportion who were sexually active in the 4weeks before the survey dropped by half among those age 15-19 and 20-24 and decreased by one-thirdamong men age 30-34.6.6 POSTPARTUM AMENORRHOEA, ABSTINENCE AND INSUSCEPTIBILITYPostpartum protection from conceptioncan be prolonged by breastfeeding, which canlengthen the duration of amenorrhoea. Delayingthe resumption of sexual relations can alsoprolong protection.As shown in Table 6.8, a majority ofwomen are amenorrhoeic for at least 12 monthsafter delivering, with a median duration ofamenorrhoea of 13 months. The median durationof postpartum abstinence is much lower—less than 5 months. Taking these two factorstogether shows that the median duration ofpostpartum insusceptibility to pregnancy is15 months (i.e., median duration of protectiondue to either amenorrhoea or postpartum abstinence).By 12-13 months after birth, 55 percentof women remain amenorrhoeic and 63 percentare insusceptible to pregnancy, but only17 percent are abstaining from sexual relations.A comparison of data from the 1996 and2001-2002 ZDHS surveys indicates that therehas been a slight increase in the median durationof postpartum amenorrhoea, from 11.5 monthsto 13.3 months. This is likely due to longerduration of breastfeeding (see Chapter 11).There has been little change in duration ofpostpartum abstinence or insusceptibility.Table 6.8 Postpartum amenorrhoea, abstinence and insusceptibilityPercentage of births in the three years preceding the survey forwhich mothers are postpartum amenorrhoeic, abstaining, andinsusceptible, by number of months since birth, and median andmean durations, Zambia 2001-2002–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Percentage of birthsfor which the mother is:––––––––––––––––––––––––––– NumberMonths Amenor- Insuscep- ofsince birth rhoeic Abstaining tible births–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––< 2 97.9 95.1 99.4 1632-3 86.4 68.1 91.9 2694-5 83.7 47.1 88.7 2216-7 72.3 36.9 77.6 2138-9 70.1 30.3 76.5 21710-11 67.9 24.0 71.5 21112-13 54.9 16.5 62.9 23414-15 44.4 20.4 54.5 24416-17 28.9 19.7 39.1 24218-19 22.9 13.8 31.3 23920-21 24.5 14.0 31.9 21722-23 14.6 10.0 21.8 26124-25 6.2 12.9 17.9 19926-27 5.0 8.7 12.2 22928-29 1.2 5.3 6.1 23330-31 0.7 7.5 8.0 24932-33 1.3 4.5 5.4 23434-35 0.4 8.1 8.3 195Total 37.1 23.7 44.0 4,069Median 13.3 4.8 14.9 naMean 13.9 9.1 16.3 na–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Note: Estimates are based on status at the time of the survey.na= Not applicableTable 6.9 shows the median durations of postpartum amenorrhoea, abstinence and insusceptibilityby background characteristics. The duration of amenorrhoea is considerably shorter among urban womenthan among rural women, and it is considerably shorter among mothers in Lusaka and mothers with moreeducation. The median duration of postpartum abstinence is particularly long for mothers in Westernprovince, which is the main reason why they also have a relatively high median duration of insusceptibilityto pregnancy.102 │ Other Determinants of Fertility