The family planning “know–do” gap among married women of reproductive age in urban Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence and predictors of family planning (FP) know-do gaps among married women of reproductive age (MWRA) in low socio-economic urban areas of Karachi, Pakistan.DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected 7288 MWRA (16–49 years) to identify predictors of the know-do gap in FP using a logistic regression model.RESULTS: More than one third (35.5%) of MWRA had FP know-do gap, i.e., despite having a knowledge of contraceptives and desire to limit or delay childbearing, they were not using contraceptives. Women were less likely to use FP if they were getting older (25–35 years: OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.09–1.94; >35 years: OR 3.02, 95% CI 1.90–4.80), from certain ethnicities (Sindhi: OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.11–2.42; Saraiki: OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.01–2.71; other minorities: OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.63–3.44); did not receive FP counselling: OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.13–1.80; and had not made a joint decision on FP: OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.06–1.98). Conversely, women were more likely to use contraceptives if they had >10 years of schooling (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.46–0.94), with each increasing number of a living child (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.62–0.75) and each increasing number of contraceptive method known (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.88–0.98).CONCLUSION: The predictors associated with the FP know-do gap among MWRA should be considered when planning future strategies to improve the contraceptive prevalence rate in Pakistan.

The family planning “know–do” gap among married women of reproductive age in urban Pakistan Journal Articles