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Contraceptive practice among married market men in Nigeria


EO Orji
U Onwudiegwu

Abstract

Background: Until recently, family planning researchers and service providers had focused almost exclusively on women. Men are often seen as uncooperative and uninterested in family planning or reproductive health.


Objective: To investigate the contraceptive knowledge, attitude and practice among married market men.


Design: A cross-sectional survey.


Setting: llesa Main Market, Osun State, Nigeria.


Subjects: Four hundred and fifty married market men were interviewed between November 2000 and January 2001.


Main Outcome Measures: Level of awareness and utilisation, reasons for non-use, influence of socio-demographic variables.


Results: All the men were aware of family planning and 60.9% are currently using a form of contraception with their spouse. Reasons for non-contraceptive use by 39.1% of the respondents include: family size not yet complete, religious opposition, afraid of contraceptive failure, still searching for a male sex. Christianity and education were significantly associated with contraceptive use and knowledge (p< 0.05).


Conclusion: Men favour contraceptive use in Nigeria. Involving men by family planning providers is a winning strategy with benefits to both men and women.


East African Medical Journal Vol.80(7) 2003: 357-360

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eISSN: 0012-835X