Factors associated with use of modern contraceptive methods among women of reproductive age in Shinyanga rural district

A cross-sectional community based study was conducted in Shinyanga Rural District, during the month of June, 2005. The major aim was to identify factors which are associated with use of modem contraceptive methods among women of reproductive age in the area. The study population was selected using a multistage sampling technique involving wards and villages. The study population consisted of 271 women of reproductive age (15-49 years). Data was collected using a structured questionnaire, which was administered by trained research assistants. Findings show that majority of the respondents were in the age groups 25-34 years (46.8 %) and youth (15-24 years) as a group contributed about 29% of the total study population. Data revealed that most of the residents were peasants and of the Wasukuma tribe with 84% of them being married. Almost 50% of the respondents were of traditional religion and that slightly over half of the women had completed primary school education. Findings also show that about 37% of the respondents were aware of the modem family planning methods and that the contraceptive prevalence rate in the district was 12.1%, with the pill and injection as the main modem contraceptive methods A high proportion (51.5%) of the respondents reported to communicate with their spouses with regards to using contraceptives and the relationship between use of the methods and spouse communication was statistically significant (p=0.00). The likelihood of using modem family planning methods appeared to decrease with increasing walking time to the service delivery points but this association was not statistically significant (p= 0.32). Furthermore, use of the family planning methods tended to be higher among women with more than 4 children, but again this association between use of the methods and the number of children was not statistically significant (p = 0.161). Regarding use of family planning and knowledge on the methods, the findings show that the highest proportion of users (54.6%) was among respondents with high level of knowledge and the proportions significantly decreased with decreasing levels of knowledge (p = 0.03) From these results, there are multifaceted factors that influence use of the modem family planning methods. Recommendations for improving the situation and strategies to increase usage include motivational campaigns, a nation-wide survey to determine gender sensitiveness of the current Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services and targeted information, education and services.