Anum Saeed, Melissa Mazcuri, Kiran Mehtab.
Awareness and Usage of Family Planning Methods amongst Women at Tertiary Care Hospitals of Karachi.
Ann Jinnah Sindh Med Uni Jan ;1(1):11-4.

Objective: The objective of the study is to find the awareness and usage of family planning methods among women and the factors responsible for decrease in contraceptive usage at tertiary care hospitals of Karachi. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample size of 384 women (ages 15 to 50 years). The sample was taken through non-probability purposive sampling. The study was conducted at Sobhraj Hospital and Civil Hospital Karachi. Study was conducted from November 2013 to April 2014. A structured questionnaire was distributed and collected from 384 subjects. Results: Over all awareness about family planning methods amongst women was; 84.1% women were aware of oral contraceptive pills, 77.3% women were aware of injectable contraception, 64.3% were aware of IUD, 55.7% were aware of natural methods while 53.1% women were aware of condoms. Regarding getting information of family planning methods; 41% women got information through media, 37.2% women got information through relatives, and for 29.7% doctors were source of information. On the usage of contraceptive methods; 30% of the participants were using contraceptive methods. 29.9% couples used male condoms, 23.4% used injectable contraception, 16.9% used oral contraceptive methods such as oral pills and 6.3%used intrauterine devices, 3.6% did permanent sterilization. Decreased contraceptive prevalence rate in Karachi was due to 59.6% male dominance,32% lack of awareness, 26.6% associated side effects of different contraceptive, 23.4% religious constraints.72.4% women were in favors of using contraception. Conclusion: These results indicate that there is a relation between awareness and usage, The main significant result was reason of women not able to use contraception methods was due to hard stance of husbands and not due to religious reasons, there is a desperate need for the government to increase awareness as well as attitude change for the family members, specially husbands; government needs to revisit it’s lady health workers program on family planning awareness, attitude and practices. Key words: Awareness, usage, family planning, contraceptives, Karachi.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com