Abstract
BackgroundThere is dearth of information on contraceptive use among women in reproductive age in Ghana over time. This study sought to examine the trends in contraceptive practices among women in reproductive age in a health facility in Ghana in terms of acceptor rates, age at first reporting and couple-years of protection.MethodsThe contraceptive data of women were extracted from the registry of a health facility for a three-year period from 2011 to 2013. Graphs and tables were used to present the trends in the use of various contraceptive methods for the study period.ResultsDepot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (Depo-Provera) was the most accepted contraceptive method as well as the most protective method against unwanted pregnancies for the three-year period. However, male condom, estradiol valerate/norethindrone enanthate (Norigynon) and pills were the lowest among all the contraceptives used by women for the study period in terms of acceptance, while intra-uterine device had the lowest couple-years of protection.ConclusionsSome contraceptive methods have been consistently under-utilised by women in the catchment area and needed to be promoted to improve upon the contraceptive use rate.
Highlights
There is dearth of information on contraceptive use among women in reproductive age in Ghana over time
In 2011, 48.9 % of women in reproductive age who registered for contraceptives were aged 25–29
DMPA became an acceptable choice of contraceptive. This is consistent with findings by Okpani and Kua [22] in which they indicated that DMPA had the highest acceptor rates among a population of 1,541 women studied
Summary
There is dearth of information on contraceptive use among women in reproductive age in Ghana over time. This study sought to examine the trends in contraceptive practices among women in reproductive age in a health facility in Ghana in terms of acceptor rates, age at first reporting and couple-years of protection. Even though about seventy-five percent of women in reproductive age reported having had sex by age twenty [12, 13], the contraceptive prevalence rate of the country was only 23.4 % as indicated by the 2010 Population and Housing Census of Ghana [14]. This is an indication that only a few of the sexually active women use contraceptives [7]
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