Knowledge, attitude, and practice of contraception among women attending a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: This study was carried out to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of contraceptive methods among women attending a tertiary care hospital, to know the influence of various factors on use of contraceptives and to identify the reasons for not using contraception.

Methods: A cross sectional, observational study was conducted in Obstetrics OPD, Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad. 408 married women of reproductive age group (15-45 years), randomly selected, were interviewed with the help of a predesigned questionnaire to elicit information regarding their demographic profile, knowledge, attitude and practice of contraception.

Results: In our study 73.3% women interviewed were aware about family planning methods.  Awareness was lowest among adolescents less than 20 years of age (28%) and highest among 31-35 yr age group (84.1%). The main source of knowledge was “friends/relatives” (37.8%) and mass media (26.8%). Awareness was high in Para-1 (96.5%), higher SES (97.4%), with higher education (90.7%), in working women (80.4%), women living in nuclear families (80.2%) and Hindu females (73.7%).  But in spite of high level of awareness, contraception usage was less (54.4%), the main reason being fear and misconceptions regarding contraceptives.

Conclusions: It can be concluded that high level of knowledge and awareness does not match with contraceptive usage rate. Converting family planning knowledge into practice is the real challenge for India. Hence, we recommend sustained efforts to increase awareness and motivation for contraceptive use through more information, education and communication with the reproductive age couples, and improved social and welfare services.