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Title Impact of contraception use among women seeking tubal ligation in the rural Democratic Republic of the Congo
Full text http://hdl.handle.net/2263/4244
Date 2007
Author(s) Chabikuli, Nzapfurundi; Lukanu, Phillipe Ngwala
Abstract INTRODUCTION: Investing in health is recommended for economic growth and the reduction of inequity in developing countries. Family planning is one such investment that benefits women and children. But resource-constrained environments, such as countries in conflict, present logistical and other challenges to the implementation of health programmes. For this reason even a proven cost-effective health intervention still needs to be contextualised to assess the actual benefit or impact in resource-constrained settings. OBJECTIVES: To describe user characteristics and analyse the impact of reversible contraception use among women who underwent tubal ligation in a rural health district of the Democratic Republic of Congo over a 4-year period. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of family planning programme registers for 4 years (1990 - 1994). During the study period, 400 women underwent tubal ligation. All records except for 76 that were incomplete were included in the study. RESULTS: A sample of 324 women was analysed. Most of the subjects (96%) were older than 30 years and of the Christian protestant faith (85%). Most had an education level less than secondary. Of the participants 99% were married; 98% of participants did not work outside the home. There was no significant difference in the average birth interval between contraceptive users and non-users (p = 0.246), but small families of less than 5 children were significantly more common (p = 0.006) in the small group of contraception users compared with non-users (10.1% and 2.8% respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The demand for surgical contraception comes mainly from married women with low education and economic status. Previous use of contraception did not make a difference in terms of birth spacing, suggesting a high prevalence of inconsistent or incorrect use of contraception.
Subject(s) Democratic Republic of the Congo; Contraception; Women; Tubal ligation; Rural health; Birth control -- Democratic Republic of the Congo; Tubal sterilization -- Democratic Republic of the Congo
Language en
Publisher Health and Medical Publishing Group
Type of publication Article
Format 263290 bytes; application/pdf
Rights Health and Medical Publishing Group
Identifier Chabikuli, N & Lukanu, PN 2007, 'Impact of contraception use among women seeking tubal ligation in the rural Democratic Republic of the Congo', South African Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 15-18. [www.sajog.org.za]; 0038-2329
Repository Pretoria - University of Pretoria, UPSpace
Added to C-A: 2009-01-19;15:16:23