Publication:

Knowledge, practice and factors influencing the use of family planning methods among eligible couples residing in urban slums of Guwahati city: a cross sectional mixed-method study

Background India became the first country to implement a national population control programme in 1952, yet it is only in the recent decades that the country’s population growth has been effectively controlled. While use of contraceptives in India is at par with usage data internationally, yet there is scope for further improvement in contraceptives utilization, especially in rural areas and urban slums. The objective of the study was to estimate the knowledge and practice of the use of family planning methods among the eligible couples residing in urban slums of Guwahati and to find the factors influencing the use of it.

Methods A community-based cross-sectional study with mixed-methods approach was conducted for a period of two months (25th April to 25th June 2023) among 190 eligible couples (18-49 years) residing in 10 urban slums of Guwahati City, Assam. The participants were interviewed by a predesigned, pretested semi-structured schedule and responses analyzed.

Results Majority (66.84%) of the respondents were in the age group of 20-29 years and majority (99.47%) of the respondents were aware of more than one contraceptive methods, health workers being the dominant source of information on contraceptives.

Conclusion It was observed that the awareness and acceptance of contraceptives among slum dwellers is gaining traction which is influenced by various socio-economic factors. More researches are however required to understand the interplay of the social barriers and economic considerations and their influence on adoption of family planning practices.