Contraceptive Knowledge, Attitude and PracticeAmong Eligible Couples of Rural Haryana

摘要

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude regarding family planning and the practice of contraceptives among eligible couples of rural Haryana. Study Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Agroha village. Participants: 250 eligible couples. Methodology: The primary tool in this study was predesigned and pretested questionnaire for recording of individual informations. Result:The knowledge about one or more methods of contraception, particularly modern contraceptive methods was 95.0%, being 95.6% among males and 94.4% among females.The knowledge about traditional methods of contraception was 72.0% in males and 46.4% in females. The most common source of knowledge for all couples in general was the “Exposure to family planning messages” (72.0%) followed by discussion with doctors and other health care workers (42.6%). Sex-wise, the most common source of knowledge for males as well as females was “Exposure to family planning messages” (75.2% and 68.8% respectively). Of 250 interviewed couples, 148 (59.2%) were practicing different contraceptive methods. Completion of family was found to be the most common reason for using contraception (81.1%). Fertility related reasons (45.1%) followed by husband’s opposition (28.4%) were the common reasons for not using contraception. Positive attitude for contraception was shown by 198 (79.2%) females and 158 (63.2%) males. Conclusion: The study reveals good knowledge and favourable attitude of rural couples towards contraception. The study also highlights that awareness does not always lead to the use of contraceptives. A lot of educational and motivational activities and improvement in family planning services are needed to promote the use of contraceptives and reduce the high fertility rate. Introduction India was the first country in the world to formulate the national family planning program in the year 1952 with the objective of “ reducing the birth rate of the extent necessary to stabilize the population at a level consistent with requirement of National economy”1. One of the main objective of the programme is to spread the knowledge of family planning methods and develop among the people an attitude favourable for adoption of contraceptive methods. The progress achieved in this sphere is normally assessed from the result of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) Survey2. Despite the fact that contraceptive usage has increased over a period of time, there exists a KAP- gap i.e. a gap between the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding contraception3,4. In a developing country like India, over population is a major concern. Despite progress resulting from making contraception widely available, there is poor acceptance of contraceptive methods either due to ignorance or fear of complications using them5,6,7,8. Inadequate knowledge about contraceptive methods and incomplete or erroneous information about their use or where to procure them are the main reasons for not accepting family planning. Keeping all the se facts in view this study was carried out to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of contraceptive methods among eligible couples in rural area of Haryana. Materials and Methods The present cross-secctional, observational study was carried out from Nov 2008 to Feb 2009 among 260 randomly selected eligible couples out of a total of 1340 eligible couples residing in Agroha village of Hisar distt., which is the Rural Field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine, Maharaja Agrasen Medical Institute of Education and Research, Agroha, Hisar (Haryana).Two hundred and fifty (250) willing couples were interviewed, based upon a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. The questionnaire elicited information regarding their age, educational status, income, knowledge and source of contraceptive methods, practicing of either male or female family planning methods. Women and men were asked about their knowledge regarding different methods of contraception. Information on k