Journal of Reproductive Health and Contraception

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Contraception among the Married Women of Reproductive Age Group in Selected Wards of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City

Background: It is very critical to understand that awareness of family planning and proper utilization of contraceptives is an important indicator for reducing maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. It also plays an important role in promoting reproductive health of the women in an underdeveloped country. According to NDHS 2011 the knowledge of at least one contraceptive method was universal in Nepal but only 49.7% of the married women aged 15-49 years were currently using any method. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among 209 married women of reproductive age in selected wards of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City. Simple random sampling was used to select the wards and population proportionate sampling for selecting the sample numbers from each ward. Semi-structured self-prepared questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to interpret the data considering p-value 0.05. Results: Most (53.1%) of the respondents were of the age group 20-34 years. Majority (92.3%) of the respondents had ever heard of contraception. Popular known method was Inj. Depo-provera (92.7%). Mass media (85.8%) was the major source of information. Mean percentage score of knowledge was 45.23%. Majority (90.4%) of the respondents had positive attitude and only (64.6%) were usingcontraceptives currently. Education, occupation and total income of the family was associated with knowledge regarding contraceptives. Logistic regression showed significant correlates of attitude with distance to the nearest health centre, education and age group whereas that of practice showed significant association with education, encouragement from husband, women’s participation in decision making, distance to nearest health centre and type of family. A positive correlation was found among knowledge, attitude and practice of contraception. Conclusion: The study concludes that contraceptive practice is relatively low. Improved education on contraception and counselling are needed to solve these problems.

Author(s):

Thapa P, Pokharel N and Shrestha M

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