Knowledge and factors influencing long acting reversible contraceptive use among women of reproductive age in Nigeria

Abstract

<ns4:p> <ns4:bold>Background:</ns4:bold> Over a month when contraception is used, approximately 48% of unintended pregnancies occur as a result of human error, which is largely due to incorrect use, poor adherence and/or technology failure. Long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods have been developed to bridge this gap because it’s not dependent on compliance with a pill-taking regimen; remembering to change patch or ring; or fixing an appointment with physicians. The main aim of this study is to examine the characteristics of women associated with use of LARC and also to examine the relationship between knowledge of LARC and its current use. </ns4:p> <ns4:p> <ns4:bold>Methods:</ns4:bold> This study assessed the PMA2020 secondary dataset using female datasets from PMA 2016 (Round 3) exercise. PMA 2016 was a survey carried out in seven states of Nigeria. The target population for this study was women of reproductive age (15-49 years) currently using any method of contraception prior to the survey. The weighted sample size of women meeting inclusion criteria in this study is 1927. The data were analyzed using frequency distribution, chi-square and logistic regression. </ns4:p> <ns4:p> <ns4:bold>Results:</ns4:bold> The results showed that 21.0% of women were using traditional methods. Concerning LARC methods, the table showed that 14.8% of the sampled women were using LARC methods. Findings further revealed that at both levels of analysis there is a significant relationship (P&lt;0.05 and P=0.00 for binary and multivariable logistic regression, respectively) between knowledge of LARCs and uses in this study. This means that the use of LARC is being influenced by its knowledge among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. </ns4:p> <ns4:p> <ns4:bold>Conclusions:</ns4:bold> This study concludes that 14.8% of women using any methods of contraceptive were using LARC. Additionally, after controlling for other confounding factors, level of education, age of women, household wealth and number of living children were significantly associated with using LARC. </ns4:p>