The family planning "know-do" gap among married women of reproductive age in urban Pakistan

Authors

S Yameen, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Sidrah Nausheen, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
I Hussain, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
K Hackett, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.
Arjumand Rizvi, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Uzair Ansari, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Zohra S. Lassi, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
D Canning, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.
I Shah, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.
Sajid Bashir Soofi, Aga Khan UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Department

Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Abstract

Objective: To examine the prevalence and predictors of family planning (FP) know-do gaps among married women of reproductive age (MWRA) in low socio-economic urban areas of Karachi, Pakistan.
Design: This was a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected 7288 MWRA (16-49 years) to identify predictors of the know-do gap in FP using a logistic regression model.
Results: More than one third (35.5%) of MWRA had FP know-do gap, i.e., despite having a knowledge of contraceptives and desire to limit or delay childbearing, they were not using contraceptives. Women were less likely to use FP if they were getting older (25-35 years: OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.09-1.94; >35 years: OR 3.02, 95% CI 1.90-4.80), from certain ethnicities (Sindhi: OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.11-2.42; Saraiki: OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.01-2.71; other minorities: OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.63-3.44); did not receive FP counselling: OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.13-1.80; and had not made a joint decision on FP: OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.06-1.98). Conversely, women were more likely to use contraceptives if they had >10 years of schooling (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.46-0.94), with each increasing number of a living child (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.62-0.75) and each increasing number of contraceptive method known (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.88-0.98).
Conclusion: The predictors associated with the FP know-do gap among MWRA should be considered when planning future strategies to improve the contraceptive prevalence rate in Pakistan.

Publication (Name of Journal)

Public Health Action

Recommended Citation

Yameen, S., Nausheen, S., Hussain, I., Hackett, K., Rizvi, A., Ansari, U., Lassi, Z. S., Canning, D., Shah, I., Soofi, S. (2021). The family planning "know-do" gap among married women of reproductive age in urban Pakistan. Public Health Action, 11(3), 132-138.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/coe-wch/34

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.