Factors associated with knowledge, attitudes and practice of family planning among women in slums: a case study of Kijungu slum, Mbarara district

Abstract

The objective of the study was to assess the factors associated with knowledge, attitudes and practice of family planning among women in slums. I specifically investigated whether age, marital status, level of education, access to the health facility, cost of the family planning methods, religious factors, source of information about family planning and cultural factors had a significant relationship with the uptake of family planning methods. This study used primary data which was collected using both paper and online questionnaires from i45 respondents who were female slum dwellers from Kijungu slum in Mbarara district. The analysis was done using frequency distribution, Pearson Chi square test and logistic regression. From the study, it was revealed that 89.66% of the women had knowledge about family planning methods, 69.66% of the women were single, 52.31% of the respondents had ever used a family planning method and 36.55% of the respondents were using a family planning method at the time of study. The frequency of discussion of family planning with the respondent’s partner (p=0.000), ownership of children (p=0.000), knowledge of family planning methods (p=0.002), previous use of family planning methods (p=0.000), marital status (p=0.000), age (p<0.005), and source of information about family planning methods (p<0.005) had a significant relationship with the use of family planning methods. From multivariate analysis, marital status didn’t have a significant influence on the uptake of family planning (p= 0.894) in that women who were married were 0.849 times less likely to utilize family planning as compared to the single women, ownership of children significantly influences the uptake of family planning (p=0.029), and it turns out that women who had children were 0.209 times less likely to use family planning compared to those who didn’t have children, discussion of family planning with friends has a significant effect on the utilization of the various family planning methods (p=0.019) women who discussed family planning with their friends were 0.229 times less likely to utilize family planning compared to those who didn’t discuss family planning with their friends The study suggested that in order to increase the uptake of family planning among women in slums the government should increase the frequency of sensitization about the family planning methods, their benefits and access points all over the country to not only make them accessible but also to put an end to the misconceptions about family planning and also establish more family planning service points in slums to ensure every woman can access them.