Health Consequences of Child Marriage in Rural and Urban Communities: Comparative Study

Background: Child marriage threatens children’s well-being and constitutes multiple violations of their rights. The aim of this study is to assess health consequences of child marriage in rural and urban communities. Design: A descriptive comparative design. Setting: Study was conducted atone maternal & child health center and one health unit for both urban and rural communities respectively, Menoufia governorate, Egypt. Subjects: A purposive sample of 370 women attended at mentioned places. Instruments: Structured interviewing questionnaire included: socio-demographic data, women perception and attitudes of child marriage, and perception bio-psycho-social health consequences of child marriage. Results: the prevalence of child marriage was 18.5%, the majority of the studied women have poor perception of the child marriage, there was no statistical significant difference regarding the perception of reasons for child marriage, which includes: tradition, education failure, insufficient income or poverty, & the marriage of a cousin or a relative, by 35.8% in rural area and 40.5% in urban area.. Finally, there was high statistical significant difference regarding bio psychosocial consequences of child marriage between urban and rural communities. Conclusion: Child marriage prevalence in rural and urban areas was significant problem and has negative adverse bio psychosocial consequences for both urban and rural communities. Recommendation: raising awareness about negative outcomes of child marriage by intensifying the health education activities and enhancing culture &community perception.