Keywords
contraceptive effectiveness
patient satisfaction
family planning methods
How to Cite
Abstract
Background: Contraceptives are the agents used to prevent unplanned pregnancies. There are various methods of contraception but the choice of the right contraceptive for each couple is necessary to promote maternal and child health.
Objectives: Our objectives were to find the prevalence of use and effectiveness of different contraceptive methods, and satisfaction in couples.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for 7 months in the OPDs of Allied Hospitals of RMU. Married couples with both spouses above the age of 18 were included and the exclusion criteria were: (1) Women with menopause or fertility disorder (2) Men with impotence or any other fertility disorder (3) People who had permanent surgical procedures. Data were collected from 360 couples through convenient sampling. Data was analyzed through SPSS version 22.
Results: Of 360 couples, 66% females and 33% males used contraceptive methods. The most frequent method of contraception was barrier method (47.8%). Most of the methods were used for 1 to 3 years (32.7%) with an 87.1% satisfaction rate. 77.3% of the couples were consistent with use of contraception while 21.4 % of couples were not consistent.
Conclusion: Contraceptives are mostly used by educated women and housewives. Use is more prevalent among urban population. The barrier method is the most used but has the highest failure rate. The most effective method is sub-dermal implant followed by IUCD.