Prevalence of Family Planning Method Among Married Women Aged 15-49 Years in One Rural Area Nadersha Kot District of Khost Province of Afghanistan

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to determine the level of women’s knowledge on family planning, the prevalence of family planning method use and to determine the related factors among married women aged 15 to 49 years in Nadersha Kot District in Khost Province of Afghanistan. In this cross-sectional study, the data was collected via a pre-tested structured questionnaire which was conducted to 885 women through household visits and based on face to face interview. Data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 15.0. Descriptive Statistics Chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis were performed. A p-value <0.05 was considered as the level of significance. The mean age of women was 31.1±6.6 years while mean age of husbands was 33.4±7.1. The literacy rate of women was 19.1% (husbands’ was 37.4%). The mean number of living children was 4.2±2.0 (min-max=1-11) and the mean age at the first marriage was 17.6± 2.1 years. It was found that more than twofifth (47.7%) of women had some knowledge of any contraceptive methods but current method use prevalence was only 21.0%. The most commonly used contraceptive method was oral pill among women who had ever-used any contraceptive method. Fear of side effects, difficulty of using, opposition of husband and intention to have child were the main reasons for discontinuing contraceptive use. Even almost half of the women living in rural area of Nadersha Kot District have some idea about level of contraceptive level. Age of woman and husband, educational level of woman and husband, age at first marriage, type of family, working status of woman and husband, self-evaluated economic status, and number of pregnancies were the common related factors for knowledge about family planning methods, ever use, current use of family planning methods and place of last delivery.