Table 1 The weighted distribution of short birth interval and respondents background characteristics by nutritional status, EDHS 2016

Maternal age at the birth of the index child (in years)

  ≤ 24

634 (12.2)

310 (11.3)

0.002

802 (11.8)

142 (12.2)

0.070

721 (12.2)

241 (10.7)

0.741

 25–29

1360 (31.6)

839 (31.0)

1951 (31.3)

269 (29.7)

1644 (31.4)

605 (31.0)

 30–34

1219(27.5)

680 (26.8)

1691 (27.5)

224 (26.0)

1430 (27.0)

507 (28.1)

  ≥ 35

1240 (28.7)

808 (30.9)

1819 (29.4)

256 (32.1)

1532 (29.4)

553 (30.2)

Maternal education

 No formal education

3019 (70.4)

2030 (78.1)

 < 0.001

4416 (73.1)

702 (78.3)

 < 0.001

3629 (70.8)

1532 (81.5)

 < 0.001

 Primary

1032 (23.7)

520 (20.0)

1403 (22.6)

147 (18.1)

1266 (24.2)

317 (16.4)

 Secondary + 

402 (5.9)

87 (1.9)

444 (4.3)

42 (3.6)

432 (5.0)

57 (2.1)

Maternal occupation

 Not employed

3240 (73.4)

1882 (72.1)

0.203

4496 (73.1)

679 (72.2)

 < 0.01

3833 (72.7)

1398 (73.9)

0.243

 Employed

1213 (26.6)

755 (27.9)

1767 (26.9)

212 (27.8)

1494 (27.3)

508 (26.1)

Wealth

 Poorest

1589 (21.8)

1094 (28.2)

 < 0.001

2284 (23.6)

461 (33.2)

 < 0.001

1843 (22.5)

913 (31.4)

 < 0.001

 Poorer

730 (22.4)

564 (26.4)

1160 (24.2)

141 (22.2)

914 (23.0)

400 (27.1)

 Middle

647 (21.7)

397 (21.1)

935 (21.3)

115 (22.5)

795 (21.5)

265 (20.4)

 Richer

613 (19.3)

302 (16.1)

829 (18.5)

76 (12.1)

758 (19.6)

167 (12.6)

 Richest

874 (14.8)

280 (8.2)

1055 (12.4)

98 (10.0)

1017 (13.5)

161 (8.5)

Number of children ever born

  ≤ 2

726 (14.2)

320 (12.8)

 < 0.001

937 (14.0)

104 (9.6)

 < 0.05

861 (14.4)

205 (10.9)

 < 0.001

 3–4

1569 (34.8)

906 (31.9)

2175 (33.5)

302 (35.2)

1858 (34.0)

667 (33.7)

  ≥ 5

2158 (51.0)

1411 (55.3)

3151 (52.5)

485 (55.2)

2608 (51.6)

1034 (55.4)

Residence

 Urban

816 (10.9)

268 (6.2)

 < 0.001

961 (9.0)

122 (9.7)

0.198

933 (9.9)

171 (6.1)

 < 0.001

 Rural

3637 (89.1)

2369 (93.8)

5302 (91.0)

769 (90.3)

4394 (90.1)

1735 (93.9)

Region

 Tigray

420 (6.1)

301 (6.5)

 < 0.001

634 (6.2)

85 (7.3)

 < 0.001

544 (6.2)

184 (6.3)

 < 0.001

 Afar

371(1.0)

282 (1.0)

541 (0.9)

131 (1.7)

409 (0.8)

266 (1.4)

 Amhara

388 (16.9)

346 (24.1)

658 (19.6)

71 (18.6)

523 (18.2)

218 (23.7)

 Oromia

730(46.2)

414 (41.8)

1024 (44.3)

125 (47.8)

905 (45.7)

258 (41.1)

 Somali

721(5.3)

273 (3.0)

813 (4.0)

209 (10.0)

744 (4.2)

272 (5.1)

 Benishangul-Gumuz

344 (1.0)

272 (1.2)

550 (1.0)

67 (1.1)

405 (1.0)

224 (1.6)

 SNNPR^a

551(20.6)

356 (21.2)

852 (21.7)

54 (12.0)

721 (21.3)

206 (19.6)

 Gambella,

323 (0.3)

114 (0.1)

382 (0.2)

67 (0.3)

349 (0.2)

90 (0.2)

 Harari

240 (0.2)

110 (0.2)

314 (0.2)

39 (0.2)

281 (0.2)

78 (0.2)

 Addis Ababa

191 (2.1)

30 (0.5)

211 (1.6)

9 (0.6)

213 (1.9)

12 (0.4)

 Dire Dawa

174 (0.3)

139 (0.4)

284 (0.3)

34 (0.4)

233 (0.3)

98 (0.4)

Maternal anemia

 No

2831 (70.5)

1609 (67.1)

 < 0.05

3947 (69.2)

514 (67.8)

 < 0.01

3393 (69.5)

1124 (67.8)

 < 0.001

 Yes

1512 (29.5)

959 (32.9)

2157 (30.8)

359 (32.2)

1794 (30.5)

735 (32.2)

 Missing

110

69

159

18

140

47

Birth size

 Average or above

3355 (76.7)

1801 (69.3)

 < 0.001

4643 (74.7)

565 (67.3)

 < 0.001

4028 (76.7)

1234 (64.8)

 < 0.001

 Small size

1098 (23.3)

836 (30.7)

1620 (25.3)

326 (32.7)

1299 (23.3)

672 (35.2)

Short birth interval

 No

2478 (58.7)

1246 (50.8)

 < 0.001

3327 (55.7)

410 (54.4)

 < 0.001

2950 (57.3)

843 (50.3)

 < 0.001

 Yes

1975 (41.3)

1391 (49.2)

2936 (44.3)

481 (45.6)

2377 (42.7)

1063 (49.7)