KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES OF FAMILY PLANNING AMONG MEN IN IBADAN SOUTH EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OYO STATE

Abstract

Men's role in the adoption and use of contraception has often been neglected in family health studies. This situation may be due to the assumption that they have negative attitude towards the use of contraceptives either by themselves or by their spouses. Factors that may contribute to this behaviour include among others; demographic variables, knowledge of contraception and socio-cutural practice. The purpose of this study is to assess men's knowledge, attitude and practices of family planning in the traditional inner core of Ibadan. Using a combination of multistage and random sampling techniques. A total of 460 men was selected from the 10 wards of Ibadan South East Local Government. Results showed that majority of the respondents' 39 (6.5%) have heard of family planning and the most important source of information was the radio (81.9%). Of this number 22.3% and 87.7% could name at least one traditional and one modern method respectively. Although 366 (92.0%) respondents' felt that men should be involved in family planning programmes, 65.6% single-handedly decided whether or not their wives should use contraceptives. In addition, negative attitudes towards their spouses use of any method of contraception were recorded among 274 (68.8%) respondents. This attitudinal disposition was largely influenced by the fear of contraceptive side effects. It is not surprising therefore that only 23.6% of the respondents' spouses are currently using modern method of contraception while only 19.1% of the respondents' are currently using the condom. The major reason for poor use was attributed to the lack of specific and detailed information about condom use. Based on these findings, better information dissemination methods about condom use for men and appropriate educational strategies for improving men's attitudes to their spouses' use of contraceptive methods are recommended.