Determinants of modern family planning use among women of reproductive age in the Nkwanta district of Ghana: a case–control study

Abstract

BackgroundAverage contraceptive prevalence rate in the Nkwanta district of Ghana was estimated to be 6.2% relative to the national average at the time, of 19%. While several efforts had been made to improve family planning in the country, the district still had very low use of modern family planning methods. This study sought to determine the factors that influenced modern family planning use in general and specifically, the factors that determined the consistently low use of modern family planning methods in the district.MethodsA case–control study was conducted in the Nkwanta district of Ghana to determine socio-economic, socio-cultural and service delivery factors influencing family planning usage. One hundred and thirty cases and 260 controls made up of women aged 15–49 years were interviewed using structured questionnaires. A logistic regression was fitted.ResultsAwareness and knowledge of modern family planning methods were high among cases and controls (over 90%). Lack of formal education among women, socio-cultural beliefs and spousal communication were found to influence modern family planning use. Furthermore, favourable opening hours of the facilities and distance to health facilities influenced the use of modern contraceptives.ConclusionWhile modern family planning seemed to be common knowledge among these women, actual use of such contraceptives was limited. There is need to improve use of modern family planning methods in the district. In addition to providing health facilities and consolidating close-to-client service initiatives in the district, policies directed towards improving modern family planning method use need to consider the influence of formal education. Promoting basic education, especially among females, will be a crucial step as the district is faced with high levels of school dropout and illiteracy rates.

Unmet need of long-acting and permanent family planning methods among women in the reproductive age group in shashemene town, Oromia region, Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

“…This finding is similar to a study done in Ethiopia and Sri Lanka [17, 18, 19]. So, effort should be on empowering every woman for education as stated in Millennium Development Goal 2.…”

Contraceptive Discontinuation, Method Switching and Associated Factors among Reproductive Age Women in Jimma Town, Southwest Ethiopia, 2013

“…women without service quality discontinue at a rate of 1.87 times higher than the rate of discontinuation of those with quality service, which is also supported by related studies [5,[28][29][30]. Even if women who were using contraceptive by joint decision with their husband had lower discontinuation probability [31] the highest were seen for those women who begun use by the main decision of their husbands [26,32].…”

Wealth index, empowerment and modern contraceptive use among married women in Nigeria: are they interrelated?

“…In such circumstances, the poor who are striving to meet their daily needs particularly feeding may find it worthier to acquire foodstuffs for the family rather than buying contraceptives. While wealth may be an important determinant of modern contraceptive use, another important reason is distance from the health facility (Ettarh and Kyobutungi 2012;Eliason et al 2014). For instance, taking injectable contraceptives would require visiting the health facility every quarter, lack of transportation fare has implication for the continuing use of such a method.…”