Acceptability and usage of contraceptive among women of reproductive age group in hilly areas of Garhwal, Uttrakhand, India

Abstract

Socio economic development of nation is intricately related to family planning policy.The reports of rise in contraceptive practices are not in correspondence with the similar decrease in the population number, therefore there is an urgent need to assess the cause of discrepancy.The present study is an effort to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of contraception among Garhwal (Uttrakhand) population. The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge and acceptability of contraceptives among the women of reproductive age group.This is a cross sectional study based on sample of 418 married women of reproductive age group of 15-49 in the tertiary care hospital of Srinagar Garhwa,l Uttrakhand,India .Participants were interviewed for the knowledge and utilization of contraceptives. Throughout the study we observed that great awareness about the various contraceptive measures maximum being about sterilization (100%) irrespective of age. However the usage (77%) is not in proportion to awareness, and is highly influenced by the educational status, being 100% in graduates and postgraduates and least among high school dropouts (3.2%)