Abstract

Objective: To determine the impact of female education on the decision to use contraceptives in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Design: Cross section study
Place and Duration of Study: Gynecology and Obstetrics Unit, PESSI Hospital (Rawalpindi), from January, 2014 to April, 2014.
Patients and Methods: Patients (81) were selected by consecutive sampling after informed written consent and acquiring Hospital ethical committee Permission. The survey interview tool was a semi structured questionnaire. The FP methods used included Condoms, IUCDs, Oral contraceptive hormonal pills or injections.
Results: The distribution of husband’s education level shows that there were 14% primary, 40% secondary, 14% FSc, 19% graduate and 15% post graduate participants in the study. In comparison, the women’s education distribution was 27% primary, 17% secondary, 19% FSc, 14% graduate and 23% post graduate. The results showed that there was no significant association of husband’s education level with the decision of not using the contraceptive method. The access to knowledge about contraceptives was directly proportional to the level of education (p0.05). Similarly the opposition from husband or in laws and beliefs in religious prohibition were also found to be independent of the wife’s educational level (p>0.05).
Conclusions: Health related concerns or fear of side effects regarding contraceptives sometimes tend to increase as educational level of wife increases. There is a need to holistically approach this gap between awareness and application of contraceptive agents, by concurrently imparting knowledge as well as ownership, so the deep rooted fears of side effects could be allayed.

Key words: Knowledge, Contraceptive Agents, Educational status