Contraceptive practice among married market men in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Until recently, family planning researchers and service providers had focused almost exclusively on women. Men are often seen as uncooperative and uninterested in family planning or reproductive health. Objective: To investigate the contraceptive knowledge, attitude and practice among married market men. Design: A cross-sectional survey. Setting: Ilesa Main Market, Osun State, Nigeria. Subjects: Four hundred and fifty married market men were interviewed between November 2000 and January 2001. Main Outcome Measures: Level of awareness and utilisation, reasons for non-use, influence of socio-demographic variables. Results: All the men were aware of family planning and 60.9% are currently using a form of contraception with their spouse. Reasons for non-contraceptive use by 39.1% of the respondents include: family size not yet complete, religious opposition, afraid of contraceptive failure, still searching for a male sex. Christianity and education were significantly associated with contraceptive use and knowledge (p< 0.05). Conclusion: Men favour contraceptive use in Nigeria. Involving men by family planning providers is a winning strategy with benefits to both men and women.