Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and Choice of Family Planning Methods among Non-Literate Married Women in Ile- Ife, Osun State

Abstract

The study investigated the knowledge, attitude, practice and methods of family planning mostly adopted by non-literate married women in Ile-Ife. It also examined the influence of some personal variables on the choice of family planning method with a view to situate the practice and challenges of family planning methods among them. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study comprised all non-literate married women in Ile-Ife, Osun State. One hundred non-literate married women were sampled by convenience sampling technique. A self- designed questionnaire (in Yoruba language) was used to elicit information from the respondents. Data collected for the study was analyzed using frequency counts and percentage, RSI, mean rating and chi-square statistics. The results showed majority of the non-literate women (73%) had low knowledge of different available family planning methods, 21% of them had moderate knowledge while 6% of them were found to possess adequate knowledge of different available family planning methods. Likewise, 46% of the non-literate women were found to possess indifferent attitude towards the use of family planning, 41% had negative attitude while 13% had positive attitude towards the use of family planning. It was observed that most of the non-literate women lack adequate knowledge about the use of family planning and they are yet to cultivate positive attitude towards its use. Results also revealed the usage of the various methods which are in this order: abstinence method RSI 0.57, injection method RSI 0.51, pill method RSI 0.50, intrauterine device (IUD) RSI 0.45. It was also found that none of the non-literate married women used such family planning methods as charms, norplant implants and diaphragm. Furthermore, results showed that only family type had significant influence on abstinence method (χ2 = 3.877, df= 1; p=.049), while religion, age, economic status and number of children had no significant influence on the use of the method. It was also shown that none of the variables had significant influence on the use of douching, pills, sterilization, Lactational Amenorrhoea Method (LAM), injection, counting of safe period and withdrawal methods. Variables such as family type, religion and number of children had no significant influence on the use of intrauterine device (IUD) but age and economic status were found to significantly influence the use of IUD (χ2 = 17.305, df=5; p=.004, χ2 = 10.349, df=2; p=.006) respectively. It was concluded that majority of the non-literate married women are not well informed about family planning methods, therefore this has affected their attitude, practice and choice of birth control method.