Contraceptive Practices And Related Factors Among Married Women In A Rural Area Of Ludhiana

摘要

The present study was carried out in 10 villages of a rural area of Ludhiana, Punjab. It was a cross sectional study. A total of 2465 married females constituted the study sample. The variables studied were age, education of husband, education of subject, type of family, parity, and number of male children. There were 12.9% non users, 49.5% were using spacing methods and 37.6% had accepted permanent method. A highly statistical significant association was observed between parity and contraceptive usage. Education of husband and education of study subjects significantly effects the choice of family planning method. The acceptance for permanent methods of family planning was higher in subjects having 1or 2 male children. Only 1.2% couples accepted sterilization without having a male child while the acceptance of sterilization was 52.9% among subjects having two living sons. Introduction The single greatest threat to India’s health, political, economic and social development is uncontrolled population growth. With its population already exceeding one billion, it is all set to overtake China and become the most populous country in the world by the year 2050.1 Since 1952, when the Family Planning Programme was officially launched through the first five year plan, the range of contraceptives offered in the National Family Programme has increased, with more emphasis on spacing methods. Contraception has been a single most important intervention to reduce burden of unwanted pregnancy and promote healthy living among women.According to NFHS-3, the current contraceptive prevalence rate in rural India is 53.0% and in Punjab, it is 63.3%.The contraceptive prevalence rate, one of the important proximate determinants of fertility, also varies substantially across the states, from a low of 24 percent in Meghalaya to a high of 73 percent in Himachal Pradesh.2 The extent of acceptance of contraceptive methods still varies within societies and also among different castes and religion groups. The factors responsible for such varied picture operate at the individual, family and community level with their roots in the socio economic and cultural milieu of Indian Society 3. Keeping in view the varied picture of acceptance of contraceptive methods in the Indian population, the present study was carried out to know the contraceptive practices and related factors among married women in a rural area of Ludhiana Material and Methods The present study was conducted among 2465 married women in 10 villages of Dehlon block of Ludhiana district, Punjab. The population of these villages making up the Rural Field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, receives continuous home based care by the health workers of the training centre and is supervised by the faculty of the department.It was a cross sectional study. All the selected subjects were interviewed, based upon a pre-designed and pre-tested performa after taking consent of the subject. Various factors affecting the contraceptive usage i.e. age, literacy, type of family, number of living children and number of male children were studied.The data collected were analyzed by using percentages and chi-square test. Results Out of total 2465 women, 49.5% women were using spacing methods, 37.6% had accepted permanent methods and 12.9% were non users. Spacing methods were preferred by females in younger age groups whereas permanent method acceptors were more (50.5%) in 40-49 yrs age group. The acceptance of permanent methods increased with increasing age. (Table 2)Education of husband and wife affected the adoption of contraception method. It is evident from Tables 3 and 4 that in married couples who were educated beyond 12th, acceptance of permanent methods was less. The acceptance of spacing methods was more among literate than illiterate.Table 5 indicates that acceptance of permanent methods was more (57.1%) in subjects residing in nuclear family.