Male involvement in family planning services in Oshodi-Isolo local government area of Lagos state, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Family planning is a major tool in reducing population size, maternal and infant mortality. Even though it is naturally supposed to be a family matter, traditionally, it has always focused on women to the disregard of men. This neglect of men has not gone without attendant implications. The aim of the study was to assess the level of male involvement among married men in an urban setting in Nigeria.
Methods: A community based descriptive cross-sectional study was done among married men within the ages of 18-55 years. Multistage sampling method was employed to select 383 participants. An interviewer administered; semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Analysis was done using Epi info software 7, level of significance was set at 0.05.
Results: The mean age of respondents was 38.8 years. The level of awareness of family planning was 89%. Only 23.8% of respondents had high involvement in family planning, the rest had low/no involvement. On bivariate analysis, older age, monogamy, religion, higher education were associated with high involvement. The commonest reason for non-use of family planning was desire to have more children.
Conclusion: The level of male involvement was very low. To improve this trend, all-inclusive family planning programmes, which are male-friendly, with engagement of community and religious leaders should be designed. Priority should be given to younger men and polygamous families.