Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Family Planning among a Sample of Women Attending Primary Health Care Centers in Al-Karkh, Baghdad, 2014
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Background: Family planning is one of the pillars of safe motherhood and a reproductive
right. It’s affected by cultural conditions and social backgrounds. While family planning
services are available in Iraq, yet there is little information on their uptake by women.
Objectives: To determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of family planning and
the associated sociodemographic factors among currently married women at reproductive
age.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 20 randomly selected PHC centers in
Al-Karkh, Baghdad, where 1000 currently married women; aged 15-49 years were
selected. Data was collected via direct interview using an Arabic language questionnaire.
Knowledge and attitude scores were summed and categorized according to Bloom's cut
off points.
Results: The mean age of women was 31.8 ± 8.9 years, one third of the sample were
married before their 18th birthday. More than one fourth (27.4%) of the studied sample had
good family planning knowledge, nearly half (49.1%) had negative attitudes toward family
planning. Half (49.6%) of the respondents were currently users, the most commonly used
method were contraceptive pills (32.4%). Most of the socio-demographic characteristics
showed statistically significant association with knowledge, attitudes and practices of
family planning.
Conclusion: The study demonstrated a need for health education campaigns and make
use of every possible contact of women with health care providers to disseminate family
planning information and dislodge misconceptions.
Keywords: Family planning, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Primary health care
centers.
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