Factors Influencing Modern Contraceptive Use among Women at the Madina Market

Abstract

Background: Globally, in sub Saharan Africa and also in Ghana, contraceptive prevalence rate has been found to be low. Though there have been programmes to promote contraceptive use, detailing the enormous benefits for families and economies there seems to be a need to find more information about the reasons for the low rates. The use of modern contraceptive methods still remains low in sub-Saharan Africa. The fertility rate at the Madina Municipal area is high and this study seeks to identify the factors that influence modern contraceptive use among the women at the Madina Market. Objectives: The specific objectives of this study were to estimate the contraceptive prevalence rate at the Madina Market, find out what the preferences of the women in modern contraceptive methods were and to determine the factors that influenced their decisions to either use or not to use modern contraceptives. Methods: A quantitative cross sectional design using structured questionnaire was used by simple random sampling. 270 market women of reproductive age (18-49 years) participated in the study. Descriptive and chi square tests were used to analyze the data. Results: All the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were not significantly associated with modern contraceptive use. Fear of side effects (p<0.001, 95%CI 1.640), previous bad experiences (p<0.001, 95% CI 0.747, 2.243)the perception that contraceptives affect one‟s health adversely (p= 0.044, 95% CI -0.052,-0.02) and ease of access to contraceptives (p= 0.03, 95% CI 0.0851,2.518) were however found to have an association with modern contraceptive use. Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) Was Found To Be 26.30% At The Madina Market. The Most preferred method was the injectable hormone (32.39%), whilst the tubal ligation was the least one (2.81%). Conclusion: The use of modern contraceptives was found to be improved by the ease of accessibility to the family planning services and products. Therefore, these services and products should be made available at all levels of the health system by taking into account the preferences of the users. However, behavioural change communication should be done to alleviate the negative perceptions about the use of modern contraceptives.