Male Contraceptive Use In The Asuogyaman District Of The Eastern Region.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Until recently, fertility and family planning research in developing countries, as well as policy and programme formulation has generally relied on data collected from women. Increasingly however, attention is being paid to men. The literature on male contraceptive use in Ghana is limited. This study was conducted in response to a felt need by the District Health Administration of the Asuogyman District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The main objective of the study was to assess male contraceptive use as a basis for male involvement programme planning in the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern Region. Specifically data was collected on men’s knowledge of family planning methods, reasons for practicing family planning, approval and ever use of family planning, current use, couple communication and family planning decision-making. Data was collected using a simple structured questionnaire from a total of 200 male respondents. Data analysis showed that knowledge of family planning was high (91%), with 83.8% of men able to mention at least one method of family planning. The commonest methods known were the male condom (91.3%), the pill (83.8%) and the injection (60.5%) with least known methods being the diaphragm (21.1%), norplant (27.0%), female condom (34.0%) and male sterilization (34.1%). There were significant differences in knowledge by place of residence and level of education. Over 90% of men in the Asuogyaman District approved of family planning. However the high level of knowledge and approval of family planning was not reflected in the level of use. Whereas 91% of men knew about family planning only 52.2% had ever used contraceptives and 39.0% were using contraceptives at the time of the study. Level of education and knowledge of a family planning method significantly affected ever use and current use of contraceptives. The level of unmet need for contraception among all men was 58.8% and 57.6% for married men. Eighty four percent of men indicated their intention to either continue or initiate contraception in future. There is thus a large potential for increasing contraceptive prevalence in the Asuogyaman District. The commonest reasons for not using family planning were desire for children, fear of side effects and religion. The findings of the study do not however support the popular notion that men always want to play a dominant role in family planning decision making. Men in Asuogyaman indicated that family planning decision making should be mutual. Attitudes of men toward family planning and reproductive decision-making might be changing and this calls for further in-depth research. In view of the wide gap between knowledge and use of family planning among men in the district, there is the need for a male involvement programme to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate in the district.