Contraceptive Use in India: A Data Mining Approach

Abstract

This paper uses data mining approach to analyse patterns of contraceptive use in India by comparing contraceptive use among groups of women with distinct demographic, economic, cultural, and social characteristics. The analysis suggests that currently married, nonpregnant women aged 15–49 years in India can be classified into 13 mutually exclusive groups on the basis of six characteristics of women—surviving children, household standard of living, religion, women’s years of schooling, husbands’ education, and residence. Contraceptive use pattern in these 13 groups is essentially different and reflects the orientation of family planning efforts, especially, official family planning efforts in the country. The observed differences in the patterns of contraceptive use have important policy and programme implications in the context of universal access to family planning.