Sarika Madhukar Thakare1 , Saurabh Chandrakant Sankalecha2 , Sayalee Vivek Pathak3 , Sachin Sukhdeorao Wankhede4
BACKGROUND Implementation of population control policies depends not only on the resources put in to enforcing these policies but also on people’s knowledge, attitude and acceptance. METHODS Ours is a cross sectional study conducted among women attending gynecology OPD in a tertiary care center in central India. The study was conducted from October 2018 to October 2019. Data collection was done using a questionnaire method. The results obtained were analyzed. Correlation of knowledge and attitude towards contraception was done with various socio-demographic parameters. RESULTS Among the various contraceptive methods, knowledge regarding permanent and barrier methods was the highest, whereas knowledge regarding natural methods was the lowest. Social circle was the most listed source of knowledge. There was a positive correlation between the level of education and number of contraceptive methods known. The attitude of women was fairly positive towards contraception. There was a positive correlation between education as well as parity in terms of willingness to use contraceptive methods. In the study conducted, barrier methods were the most used methods of contraception. Only 5% of the subjects mentioned religious grounds, and 4.88% mentioned wanting a male child as a reason for not using contraceptives. CONCLUSIONS In our study, all the women were aware about at least one method of contraception. Barrier methods were the most used methods of contraception. There is a discordance between knowledge of contraceptive methods and practices. As a result the unmet need for family planning is very high.
