Table 1. Participant characteristics overall and according to pregnancy intention, n = 8491.
| All women n = 849 | Not planning to become pregnant n = 693 (81.6%) |
Planning to become pregnant n = 156 (18.4%) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | p-value2 | |
| Socio-demographic characteristics | ||||
| Age group | <0.0001 | |||
| 18–24 years | 142 (16.7) | 110 (15.9) | 32 (20.5) | |
| 25–34 years | 274 (32.3) | 185 (26.7) | 89 (57.1) | |
| 35–50 years | 433 (51.0) | 398 (57.4) | 35 (22.4) | |
| Location | 0.50 | |||
| Victoria–Metropolitan Melbourne | 203 (23.9) | 161 (23.2) | 42 (26.9) | |
| Regional Victoria, ACT, NT, WA, SA, TAS | 219 (25.8) | 184 (26.6) | 35 (22.4) | |
| Queensland | 170 (20.0) | 142 (20.5) | 28 (18.0) | |
| New South Wales | 257 (30.3) | 206 (29.7) | 51 (32.7) | |
| Remoteness | 0.04 | |||
| Rural or remote | 45 (5.3) | 42 (6.1) | 3 (1.9) | |
| Urban | 804 (94.7) | 651 (93.9) | 153 (98.1) | |
| Cultural or ethnic group | 0.68 | |||
| Oceanian | 481 (56.7) | 395 (57.0) | 86 (55.1) | |
| European or North American | 209 (24.6) | 170 (24.5) | 39 (25.0) | |
| Asian | 99 (11.7) | 77 (11.1) | 22 (14.1) | |
| Other3 | 60 (7.1) | 51 (7.4) | 9 (5.8) | |
| Marital status | 0.06 | |||
| Single | 373 (43.9) | 315 (45.5) | 58 (37.2) | |
| Married or de facto | 476 (56.1) | 378 (54.6) | 98 (62.8) | |
| Highest level of education completed | 0.001 | |||
| Primary, secondary or high school | 177 (20.9) | 154 (22.3) | 23 (14.7) | |
| Diploma or certificate (TAFE) | 205 (24.2) | 179 (25.9) | 26 (16.7) | |
| University or post-graduate degree | 464 (54.9) | 357 (51.7) | 107 (68.6) | |
| Annual household income before tax | 0.02 | |||
| AUD $0 to 99,999 | 382 (51.6) | 322 (53.8) | 60 (42.6) | |
| AUD ≥ $100,000 | 358 (48.4) | 277 (46.2) | 81 (57.5) | |
| Not able to afford balanced meals for household | 0.23 | |||
| Never true | 641 (75.5) | 529 (76.3) | 112 (71.8) | |
| Sometimes or often true | 208 (24.5) | 164 (23.7) | 44 (28.2) | |
| Employment prior to the pandemic | <0.0001 | |||
| Unemployed | 202 (23.8) | 183 (26.4) | 19 (12.2) | |
| Full-time employment | 419 (49.4) | 310 (44.7) | 109 (69.9) | |
| Part-time or casual employment | 228 (26.9) | 200 (28.9) | 28 (18.0) | |
| Changes in employment since the pandemic | 0.25 | |||
| No change or change between part-time and full-time | 781 (92.0) | 641 (92.5) | 140 (89.7) | |
| Change from employed to unemployed | 68 (8.0) | 52 (7.5) | 16 (10.3) | |
| Number of children in the household | 0.002 | |||
| None | 511 (60.3) | 400 (57.8) | 111 (71.2) | |
| One or more | 337 (39.7) | 292 (42.2) | 45 (28.9) | |
| Health and health behaviours | ||||
| Psychological distress | 0.002 | |||
| Low or moderate | 487 (58.5) | 415 (61.0) | 72 (47.1) | |
| High or very high | 346 (41.5) | 265 (39.0) | 81 (52.9) | |
| Common physical health condition, such as diabetes, hypertension, polycystic ovary syndrome | 0.73 | |||
| Yes | 227 (26.7) | 187 (27.0) | 40 (25.6) | |
| No | 622 (73.3) | 506 (73.0) | 116 (74.4) | |
| Body mass index4 | 0.05 | |||
| Normal weight (<25 kg/m2) | 362 (58.2) | 278 (55.8) | 84 (67.7) | |
| Overweight (25–29.9 kg/m2) | 136 (21.9) | 113 (22.7) | 23 (18.6) | |
| Obesity (≥30 kg/m2) | 124 (19.9) | 107 (21.5) | 17 (13.7) | |
| Any alcohol consumption | 0.01 | |||
| No | 191 (22.5) | 168 (24.2) | 23 (14.7) | |
| Yes | 658 (77.5) | 525 (75.8) | 133 (85.3) | |
| ≥ 30 minutes of moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity per day | 0.51 | |||
| Yes | 269 (31.7) | 223 (32.2) | 46 (29.5) | |
| No | 580 (68.3) | 470 (67.8) | 110 (70.5) |
ACT, Australian Capital Territory; NT, Northern Territory; SA, South Australia, TAS, Tasmania; WA, Western Australia.
1 Number of participants differs due to missing data.
2 p value from chi-square test.
3 Other cultural or ethnic groups include African, Middle Eastern, South American, Central American and Caribbean Islander.
4 Women with underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2) were included in the normal weight category due to low numbers (n = 30).