Publication:

A study on contraceptive use among married women of reproductive age group in a rural area of Tamilnadu, India

Background India was the first country in the world to formulate the national family planning programme in the year 1952 with the objective of “reducing the birth rate to the extent necessary to stabilize the population at a level consistent with requirement of national economy. The objective of this study was to study contraceptive use among married women of reproductive age group in a rural area of Tamilnadu.

Methods A cross sectional study was conducted from December 2014 to January 2015 in Sree Mookambika institute of medical Sciences, Kulasekharam among the married women in eligible couples group attending the hospital. Sample size was calculated to be 84. Inclusion criteria: married couple with female in age group of 15 - 45 years and sexually active and having the ability to communicate in local language.

Results The mean age was 30.95 years (SD = 6.421). Formal education was received by 100% women. Majority are Christians (48.8%) followed by Hindu (46.4%) and Muslim (4.8%). Among the respondents (n = 84), 33.7%, 41.7%, 2.4% and 22.6% had parity of 1, 2, 3 or more and none respectively Most of the women (71.4%) belonged to middle class group. 94% of women were aware of sterilization. This study shows a significant association between number of children and contraception usage (p<0.05). As parity increases contraception usage rate increases. Similar association is seen between number of male children and contraception practice (0.006). Also acceptance for permanent method of family planning increased with increasing parity (0.00) and number of male children (0.04).

Conclusions The study reveals good knowledge and favorable attitude of rural couples towards contraception. Contraceptive knowledge and practice was influenced by exposure to family planning messages.