Contraception Usage among Married Women in Mandalay, Myanmar

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine contraceptive usage and its association with socio-demographic factors, knowledge about contraception, attitudes towards contraception among 358 married women of reproductive age in Mandalay, Myanmar. The data of this face to face interview study was analyzed by chi-square test to understand the association between independent factors and current contraception usage. The study revealed that 43% of the women in Mandalay were 25 to 34 years of age. About 45% reported being married for more than ten years; more than half had 1 to 2 children and were housewives. Almost all of them were Buddhist. The prevalence of contraceptive use among married women in Mandalay was 53.4%. The most commonly used methods were oral pills and injectables. The common reasons for not currently using contraceptives were being afraid of side effects, wanting to get pregnant, health reasons and husband objecting. Most of the women heard of contraceptive methods and half of them correctly answered 50-70% of the knowledge questions. The results of this study found that there were significant differences between age, marital duration, number of living children, knowledge about contraceptive methods, attitude towards contraception and current contraception usage.