Attribution of contraceptive use in a Turkish population
N. Bozkurt1, S. Özkan2, A. Onan1, U. Korucuoglu1, R. Aygün2, O. Himmetoglu1
1Gazi University, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Ankara, Turkey, 2Gazi
University, Public Health Department, Ankara, Turkey
Objective This study is
designed to estimate the distribution of contraceptive use among reproductive
age women in a Turkish population.
Study design We included 2365 women of
reproductive age in this study. Women were given a questionnaire via a
face-to-face interview. The questionnaire was distributed to four village
clinics, to two ”Mother-Child Health and Family Planning Centers” and to Gazi
University Faculty of Medicine Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, in Ankara.
Results The mean age of the 2365 participants was 38.26 ± 13.83. Among all
participants, 2174 were married (91.9 %). Regarding their educational status,
most women were primary school graduates (n=924, 39.1 %) and high school
graduates (n=576, 24.4 %). When the educational status of their husbands was
examined, we found out that 30.2 % were high school graduates, 27.3 % were
university graduates and 25.9 % were primary school graduates. During the time
period just after marriage, 1914 women (80.9 %) declared that they did not use
any type of contraception. Among 451 women who had used a contraceptive method
just after marriage, the most commonly used method was condoms ( 34.2 %),
followed by oral contraceptives (31.2 %) and coitus interruptus ( 25.9 %). When
their history of contraceptive use was asked (ever use), 1903 women (80.2 %)
told they used a method of contraception while 462 women (19.5 %) had never used
any type of contraceptives. Among those who never used any contraceptives, 54.3
% had desire for an infant, 29.3 % lacked knowledge and 11.8 % were infertil.
Distribution of contraceptive methods among women was analyzed and intrauterine
devices were detected to be the most commonly used method (n=1046, 55 %).
Following IUD’s, coitus interruptus (n=775, 40.7 %), preservatives (n=757, 39.8
%) and oral contraceptives (n=534, 28.1 %) were other commonly used methods.
Participants were asked questions about contraceptive methods they are actually
using (current use). Among women in reproductive age group ( excluding pregnants
), 195 were not actually using any contraceptive method ( 14.4 % ). When the
reason for this is asked most common answers were lactation ( 31 %) , desire for
an infant ( 17.9 % ), absence of a partner (15.8 %) and premenopause ( 8.7 % ).
Of 1158 women who said they were actually using a contraceptive method , most
were using intrauterine devices ( 38.9 % ), condoms (24.9 %) and coitus
interruptus (17%).
Conclusion As 13 % of participants gave birth to more than
four children, 7 % of women had never used any contraceptive due to lack of
knowledge, 27 % had at least one curettage, it is obvious that there is still a
population in our country in need of education about contraception. This study
also reveales that 40 % of contraceptors did not get any medical service about
the method they were using and 50 % of them did not find their level of
knowledge enough. But, a point that should be emphasized is that there is a
marked increase in contraceptive prevalence, and expansion of family planning
activities in Turkey. This can be concluded as 25 % rate of coitus interruptus
use as a contraceptive method reported in 1998 is found as 17 % in our study and
82 % of actual contraceptors in our study group use modern methods of
contraception. This change, we think, is due to improvements in health services
of Turkey, realized during recent years.
KEY WORDS Contraception, Contraceptive methods, Family planning,
Birth control