Abstract

Background: The choice of available contraceptive methods has increased in recent years; however, recent data on women’s awareness and reasons for their method selection, or reasons for changing methods, are limited about Saudi females. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of current methods and women attitudes in terms of knowledge, selection, and preference criteria’s regarding contraceptive methods from all over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A web-based survey of married women aged 14 to 55 years was conducted (n = 3,022). The information regarding level of education, profession, years of marriage, current usage of contraceptive method, source of information, reasons for choosing and for changing methods, most influencing individual for selection, and satisfaction level regarding selected methods was collected. Results: The current prevalence of contraceptive use in the study population was 62% (n = 1,873) from all the regions of Saudi Arabia. From the respondent population, 30.5% were professional and 80.6% women were university graduates. Years of marriage were varied (0–5 years to above 11 years) among respondents. Regarding current use, contraceptive pill was the first choice (40.3%). Conclusion: Contraceptive use was significant in educated Saudi women but due to web-based survey, data did not represent all women. More studies are required in the rural areas and among people without internet access.

Key words: Contraception, cross-sectional, questionnaire, pregnancy