A Study On The Extent And Reasons Of Unmet Need for Family Planning Among Women Of Reproductive Age Group In Rural Area Of Haryana

摘要

Research Question: To find out the extent and reasons of unmet need for Family Planing among rural women of reproductive age group and its association with some demogaphic factors. Objectives: (a) To estimate the magnitude of unmet need for family planing among women of reproductive age group. (b) To find out the association of socio-demographic factors with the unmet need for family planning and contraceptive users. (c) To explore common reasons for unmet need for family planning. Study Design: Community based cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary Health Training Centre (PHTC), Agroha (Hisar). Participants: Four hundred and eighty three willing women of reproductive age group. Materials and Methods: The primary tool in this study was predesigned and pretested questionnaire for recording of individual informations. Statistical analysis: Proportions & Univariate analysis (Chi Square test). Results : The extent of unmet need for family planning was 41.61%, of which 25.46% were limiters and 16.15% were spacers. Only 45.55% women were contraceptive users. Contraceptive use rate increased significantly X2(4, N = 483) = 11.00, p = .026 with the advancement of age. Limiters increased significantly X2(4, N = 201) = 15.67, p = .003 with advancement of age with proportionate decrease of spacers. Women’s education exert a powerful influence on unmet need X2(4, N = 483) = 14.56, p = .005. With increasing level of literacy, significant X2 (3, N = 201) = 28.59, p = <.001 increase in the prevalence of spacers with reciprocal decrease in the limiters were noticed. Neither the type of family nor the number of living children was significantly associated with the unmet need for family planning. However the prevalence of spacers had significantly decreased and limiters increased with increase in numbers of living children. The major reasons for unmet need were opposition from husband & family members (34.83%) and lack of information regarding the different methods of family planning (29.35%). Conclusions: Prevalence of unmet need was higher in more fertile age group (i.e.<30 years), therefore family planning program should focus more on this age group along with targetting illiterate people in rural areas. Introduction The success of any family planning programme must ultimately be judged by its ability to meet all the family planning needs of the population, as well as the need for specific methods, whether they are for spacing or limiting. About fifteen percent (14.6%) of currently married rural women in India had an unmet need for family planning during the National Family Health Survey III (2005-2006)1, i.e., they are not using contraception though they do not want more children or want to wait at least for two years before their next child. The concept of unmet need points to the gap between some women’s reproductive intentions and their contraceptive behaviours2.Unmet need rises as more women want to control their fertility and it falls as more use contraception. Even where the proportion of women with the unmet need is declining, the absolute number with unmet need may be growing because the population is growing3. While family planning is one of the fundamental pillars of safe motherhood and a reproductive right, more than 100 million women in less developed countries or about 17% of all married women would prefer to avoid a pregnancy but are not using any form of family planning4. More than one-fourth of the births world-wide are unplanned5. Among the reasons for unmet need for family planning, the common ones are inconvenient unsatisfactory services, lack of information, fears about contraceptive side effects and opposition from husbands or other family members3.In order to explore these areas, this community based cross sectional study was undertaken in the rural area of Haryana.The specific objectives of the study were:(a) to estimate the magnitude of unmet need for family planing among women of reproductive age group; (b) to find