Share of current unmet need for modern contraceptive methods attributed to past users of these methods in India.

Ankita Shukla,Abhishek Kumar,Arupendra Mozumdar,Anrudh K Jain,F Ram,Subrato Mondal,Niranjan Saggurti,Rajib Acharya

doi:10.1017/s0021932020000279

Abstract

Despite persistent efforts, unmet need for contraceptives in India has declined only slightly from 14% to 13% between 2005-06 and 2015-16. Many women using a family planning method discontinue it without switching to another method and continue to have unmet need. This study quantified the share of current unmet need for modern contraceptive methods attributed to past users of these methods in India. Data were drawn from two rounds of the National Family Health Survey conducted in 2005-06 and 2015-16. Using information on women with current unmet need, and whether they used any modern method in the past, the share of past users with current unmet need for modern methods was calculated. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Among 46 million women with unmet need, 11 million were past users of modern methods in 2015-16. The share of current unmet need attributed to past users of modern contraceptive methods declined from 27% in 2005-06 to 24% in 2015-16. Share of current unmet need attributed to past users was associated with reversible method use. This share rose with increased use of modern reversible methods. With the Indian family planning programme's focus on increasing modern reversible method use, the share of unmet need attributed to past users of modern methods is likely to increase in the future. The programme's emphasis on continuation of contraceptive use, along with bringing in new users, could be one of the key strategies for India to achieve the FP2020 goals.

Highlights

At the London Summit on Family Planning held in July 2012, world leaders made commitments to providing access to modern contraceptives to 120 million women and girls with unmet need for family planning by 2020
In 2005–06, 9.0% were past users and 15.8% were never users of modern methods
Unmet need for modern methods declined from 21.7% to 18.6%

Summary

Introduction

At the London Summit on Family Planning held in July 2012, world leaders made commitments to providing access to modern contraceptives to 120 million women and girls with unmet need for family planning by 2020. India pledged to provide family planning services to 48 million additional women by 2020 (i.e. 40% of the total global commitment of 120 million) and to sustain the current coverage of over 100 million users (FP2020, 2012; Brown et al, 2014). The adjusted share of past users with unmet need increased with women’s age, parity, education and household wealth (Table 2). It was higher in urban areas than NFHS-3 NFHS-4. The adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of the share of past users with current unmet need increased with age (NFHS-4: 1.6 and 2.9, respectively for ages 25–34 and 35–49) and parity (NFHS-4: 1.8 and 1.9, respectively, for women with 2 and 3 or more children, respectively). The decline over time was not significant among women with no children, with no education and in the poorest two groups

Methods

Results

Conclusion