Attitude of university students towards family planning

Abstract

AbstractBackground: Attitude towards fertility regulation, access to the means of fertility regulation and communication between husband and wife about desired family size are essential for effective family planning. In addition community participation in planning and prioritization is an important aspect of family planning programme. To implement such programme, population acceptance is mandatory. Objectives: This study was conducted to assess attitude of the university students towards family planning programme in future.Subjects and method: A sample of 1900 students were randomly selected from five of the 15 colleges in Basrah University and interviewed according to special questionnaire.Results: Most of respondents (71.7%) had a favorable attitude towards family planning. A significant association was found between student's attitude and certain socio-demographic and family characteristics, those were: female sex, being married, scientific colleges, urban residence and father's educational attainment. 25.3% of students approved future use of family planning and oral contraceptive pills was the most preferred method by respondents (15.6%). About 84.0% believed that decision-making regarding use of family planning methods was a joint process and 61.7% believed that religion is not against family planning. Conclusion: More than one quarter of university students showed a negative attitude towards family planning programme which was similar to other studies in the nearby countries. Such negative attitude reflects the weakness of reproductive health education among future parents.Key words: Attitude, family planning, Basrah, University students