Prevalence and factors related to the unmet need for family planning among married women in the rural community of South India

ABSTRACT

Background: Family planning program was implemented in India since 1952 so that the couples can exercise control over their own fertility. As per NFHS-4, unmet need for family planning in our country was 13%. However, in rural areas, this prevalence might be high. Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of unmet need for family planning method and its associated factors among the rural married women. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural community of South India for 1 year. By the cluster sampling method, 1024 married women in the reproductive age group were selected. After written informed consent, each subject was interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire and the data were collected. Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 31.07 ± 4.6 years. Unmet need for the permanent method of family planning was 34%, and for spacing, it was 69.7%. Factors such as age, parity, and education of participant and husband influenced the unmet need for the permanent method; for the temporary method, socioeconomic status was significantly associated. Conclusion: Unmet need for family planning was high among the rural women in this community and many factors were related to this. Health education and motivation by community health workers are needed to bring a positive change in this regard.