Modern contraceptive methods knowledge and practice among blind and deaf women in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey

Abstract

BackgroundEvidences from various parts of the world reveal that women with disabilities are facing widespread barriers in accessing public services. Service providers and program managers do not grasp the relevance of their work and interventions in addressing the sexual and reproductive health needs of women with disabilities. The present study therefore aimed to assess family planning knowledge and practice among women with sensory disabilities.MethodsA mixed method approach using quantitative and qualitative methods was employed to collect the data. The study included 326 blind and deaf women using respondent driven sampling technique and 29 purposely selected key informants. We carried out the study from August 2016–April 2017. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS and the qualitative analysis was done using Open code software version 4.02 and triangulated with the quantitative findings.ResultsThe findings showed that nearly two third of the respondents of were sexually active. The majority (97.2%) of study respondents had heard about FP methods, however the level of comprehensive knowledge on modern contraceptive methods was 32.5%. The prevalence of unwanted pregnancy was 67.0% and abortion was 44%.Almost half of sexually active respondents ever used modern contraceptive methods, yet the contraceptive prevalence at the time of survey was 31.1%. Implants were the most commonly used (51%) contraceptive method among current users.ConclusionsThe use of modern contraceptive methods among women with sensory disabilities was low. Thus, the government and concerned organizations need to address the attitudinal, social, and physical barriers women with sensory disabilities are facing while seeking, accessing to and using family planning services.

<p>Utilization of Family Planning Methods and Associated Factors Among Reproductive-Age Women with Disability in Arba Minch Town, Southern Ethiopia</p>

“…The finding from Gondar was considerably lower than this study. 15 Level of education and type of impairments were the possible reason since 78.1% of the participant was unable to read and write which also only focus on blind and deaf.…”

“…14 Limited knowledge and negative attitude of contraceptive methods also found to have a significant effect on the utilization of family planning methods. 15 Socio-demographic factors including women's age, marital status, level of educational and the residence of living affect contraceptive use. [16][17][18][19] The study conducted in Gondar and Dembia district revealed that impairment type, occupation, cultural or religious opposition, and age at marriage were associated with family planning method use.…”

“…[16][17][18][19] The study conducted in Gondar and Dembia district revealed that impairment type, occupation, cultural or religious opposition, and age at marriage were associated with family planning method use. 10,15,20 Physical barriers to access health facilities, long and difficult journeys to clinics, accessibility of family planning messaging materials, stigma and discrimination were disparately affecting women with disabilities for family planning methods use. 6,21 Furthermore, a reproductive health-related factor associated with contraceptive use includes the ideal number of children, previous child loss and parity.…”

Barriers facing persons with disability in accessing sexual and reproductive health services in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review

“…Table 1 presents the characteristics of the eligible studies. Of the 26 eligible studies, 19 were qualitative in design [7,10,11,[18][19][20][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]; four used a survey design [44][45][46][47]; and three used mixed methods design [48][49][50]. The 26 studies were reported from twelve African countries: Uganda (seven studies) [7,10,31,32,34,37,39];…”

“…Ghana (five studies) [11,32,39,49,51], Zambia (five studies) [18,32,36,38,39]; Zimbabwe (two studies) [19,43]; South Africa (two studies) [42,52]; Kenya (one study) [31]; Namibia (one study) [53]; Senegal (one study) [20]; Nigeria (two studies) [45,48]; Rwanda (one study) [54]; Cameroon (two studies) [46,55]; and Ethiopia (three studies) [35,47,50]. Fourteen out of the 19 eligible qualitative studies were rated as high quality [7, 10, 11, 19, 20, 32, 35-39, 42, 51, 55]; five studies were medium to high quality [18,31,43,53,54] (see S2 File).…”