Abstract

PSYCHOSOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF CONTRACEPTIVE USE AMONG WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE IN A RURAL AREA OF MAHARASHTRA

The World Health Organisation reports that an estimated 94 per cent of the population of the world lives in countries with policies that favour family planning. Despite this, five of every six couples of reproductive age do not use adequate measures of fertility regulation. Gender inequalities in patriarchal societies ensure that men play a critical role in the decisions on family matters. The present study was undertaken to study the nature of acceptance of contraceptive practices and the psychosocial determinants. Methods: This was a community based cross sectional descriptive study. The anticipated prevalence of contraceptive practices among the 206 women in the age group of 15-49 years was 50%. Considering a margin of error of 10%, with finite correction and 10% of nonresponse and 95% CI, the sample size was calculated. 90 married women in the reproductive age group of 15-49 years residing at the village were studied after drawing the sample with simple random sampling method. Results: There were 55 (61.11%) women who practised contraception. In case of 03 (3.33%) couples, husbands used condoms, while in case of remaining 52 (57.78%), wife had undergone tubectomy. Conclusion: From the present study, it was concluded that the most common method of contraception practiced in the study population was tubectomy and a range of psychosocial factors played an important role in decision making.

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