Knowledge, attitudes and practice of condom use among the married women in Mirpur area of Dhaka city, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Condom is an important method of family planning and prevention of sexually transmitted infections. Condom is the only contraceptive method that can protect against both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Unprotected sex leads to many unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The family planning saves lives of women and children and improves the quality of life. This study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practice of condom use among the married women in Mirpur area of Dhaka city in Bangladesh.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the randomly selected sample of 101 women aged 15-49 years from selected areas of Mirpur in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to elicit the required information from the study participants using face to face interview. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 21.0 version.Results: Only 5.9% of the study participants had ever used condom. Most of the study participants (93.1%) considered a condom as an effective method for birth control and prevention of sexually transmitted infections (10.9%). However, 36.6% of them believed that condom use had some harmful effects. The main reason for condom use among the users was for family planning (83.3%) and the rest (16.7%) mentioned that it was due to STIs prevention and family planning. The condom use was found significantly associated with age, educational level, partner’s educational level, socio-economic status, and perceived risk of STIs.Conclusions: The study revealed that the rate of condom use was very low among the study participants. This might be due to lack of knowledge about proper and effective use of condoms, low perception of risk of STIs, misperception about harmful effects of condoms and the use of other family planning methods by respondents.