Prevalence and associated factors of circumcision among daughters of reproductive aged women in the Hababo Guduru District, Western Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Female genital mutilation is currently a public health problem which needs investigation and immediate action. Ethiopia is the second-ranked African country in terms of having higher numbers of circumcised girls. This study aimed to determine prevalence and associated factors of circumcision among daughters of reproductive aged women.

METHODS: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted on 610 mothers. The total sample was allocated proportionally in three randomly selected kebeles based on the number of reproductive age mothers with at least one daughter under 15 years old. A systematic random sampling technique was used to draw the respondents. A structured and interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Logistic regression analyses were used to see the association of different variables.

RESULTS: Out of 610 mothers, 293 (48 %) had at least one circumcised daughter. Having a good knowledge about genital mutilation (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] =0. 14, 95 % CI: 0.09-0.23), positive attitude (AOR = 0. 26, 95 % CI: 0.16-0.43), being literate (AOR = 0.50, CI: 0.28-0.91) and living in urban area (AOR = 0.30, 95 % CI: 0.17-0.51) had a lower odds of female genital mutilation. In addition, not knowing genital mutilation as a crime (AOR = 5, 95 % CI: 3.07-8.19), and being in the age group of 40-49 (AOR = 2.56, 95 % CI: 1.40-4.69) had a higher odds of having circumcised daughter. Furthermore, fathers being traditional religion followers (AOR = 0.22, 95 % CI: 0.07-0.74) had less odds of having a circumcised daughter as compared to those who follow Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, about half of the mothers had at least one circumcised daughter. Mothers' knowledge, attitude, age, residence, educational status and fathers' religion were significantly associated with female genital mutilation. Hence, convincing mothers about the ill effects of circumcision and working with religious leaders is recommended.