Determinants of Male Involvement in Family Planning Decision making in a Rural Community in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Male involvement in family planning (FP) is most often associated with better health outcomes for the family. This study assessed male involvement in FP at Fadan Kamantan, a rural community in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State, North Western Nigeria.

Methods: This was a community-based descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 166 married men selected using multi-staged sampling technique. A set of structured, interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to obtain information from the respondents. Data was analyzed with IBM SPSS version 23.0 and STATA/SE 12. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05.

Results: The mean age of respondents was 38 ±10.7 years. Current use of FP method by the respondents’ spouses was 80 (51%). One hundred and twenty-two (77.7%) of the men gave consent for their wives to attend the FP clinics, 60 (38.2%) ever followed wives to the FP clinics, 122 (77.7%) ever initiated FP discussion with their spouses, 14 (8.9%) initiated FP discussions all the time, husbands predominantly took FP decisions 89 (56.7%). Only 97 (58.4%) had good overall scores for male involvement in FP decision making. The odds for good male involvement in FP was 27 times higher for those who had tertiary education (AOR=27.00, 95%CI=2.95-247.44) compared to those with no formal education.

Conclusion: The study showed that male involvement in FP was determined by educational status. The Local Government Authority should engage in health education on FP services targeted at men with lower educational status in this community.