Opinions and Attitudes About Vasectomy of Married Couples Living in Turkey

Men's Knowledge of Vasectomy and Its Associated Factors in Debre Tabor Town, Northwest Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose

Even though vasectomy is one of the safest, simplest, and most effective family planning methods available for men, it is one of the least used contraceptive methods in the developing world, including Ethiopia. The goal of this study was to assess the level of knowledge towards vasectomy and its associated factors among married men in Debre Tabor Town.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from December 5-25, 2019. A total of 413 married men participated and selected by simple random sampling. Data was entered using EpiData version 4.2 and analyzed by SPSS version 23. A bivariable and multivariable logistic regression model was carried out. Finally, variables having a P-value of <0.05 at 95% CI were considered as statistically significant.

Results

In this study, 38.5% of men had an adequate level of knowledge about vasectomy. Multivariable logistic regression showed that an educational status of secondary education and college and above (AOR=4.70, 95% CI=1.26-17.55; and AOR=8.36, 95% CI=2.41-28.97, respectively), having four or more alive children (AOR=0.51, 95% CI=0.29-0.89), and positive attitude (AOR=2.47, 95% CI=1.58-3.86) were significantly associated with knowledge of vasectomy.

Conclusion

Knowledge of married men towards vasectomy was relatively low. Educational status, number of children, and attitude were statistically significant with the men's knowledge about vasectomy. Emphasis should therefore be put on improving the educational status of men and positively changing the male upbringing culture right from their childhood which will also improve their attitude towards vasectomy in the future.

The process of opting for female permanent contraception: A qualitative study of women's experiences in Sweden

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to explore Swedish women's decision-making experiences regarding permanent contraception.

STUDY DESIGN

In this study, we included 17 women aged 30-48 who were scheduled to undergo female permanent contraceptive procedures. We conducted semistructured interviews using two broad open-ended questions. We analyzed these data using systematic text condensation based on the principles of psychological phenomenological analysis.

RESULTS

The interviewees experienced no counseling or support from health care workers regarding permanent contraception until they specifically asked for it. Participants reported that they themselves place the responsibility of permanent contraception solely on women. Consequently, our participants described feeling hesitancy and ambivalence in the process of deciding to have the procedure. Once the decision was made and the women were on the waiting lists for surgery, they experienced relief and empowerment.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that health care providers in Sweden miss opportunities to support patient-centered decision-making regarding permanent contraception. This study indicates that women make deliberate and considered decisions regarding permanent contraception and are best positioned to know when the procedure should take place in their reproductive lives.

IMPLICATION STATEMENTS

Health care professionals should discuss permanent contraception as an option with all women desiring contraception to allow them to decide if that method is right for them.

Intention to use vasectomy and its associated factors among married men in Debre Tabor Town, North West Ethiopia, 2019

BACKGROUND

Vasectomy is one of the most effective and permanent male contraceptive methods, and involves cutting and ligating the vas deferens to make the semen free of sperm during ejaculation. Although it is effective, simple, and safe, it is not well known and practiced in the majority of our community. This study assessed the intention to use vasectomy and its associated factors among married men in Debre Tabor Town, North West Ethiopia, 2019.

METHODS

A community- based cross-sectional study was conducted among 402 married men from March 05 to April 15, 2019. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select the study participants. Data was collected by face to face interview using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. Questions concerned socio-demographic and reproductive variables and views on vasectomy. The association between variables was analyzed using a bivariable and multivariable logistic regression model.

RESULT

A total of 402 participants were included with a response rate of 98.75%. The mean participant age was 37.12(SD ± 6.553) years with the age range of 20-56 years. The prevalence of intention to use vasectomy was 19.6% with 95%CI (15.6%-23.4%). Multivariable logistic regression showed that age from 30-39 years (AOR = 3.2(95% CI: 1.19-8.86)), having more than three living children (AOR = 2.5(95% CI: 1.41-4.68)), good knowledge (AOR = 3.4(95%CI: 1.88-6.40)) and positive attitude (AOR = 4.8(95% CI: 2.61-8.80)) of married men were significantly associated with intention to use vasectomy.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Intention to use vasectomy was comparable with findings in four regions of Ethiopia (Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray). Age, the number of living children, knowledge, and attitude were significantly associated with the intention to use vasectomy. Improving the level of knowledge and attitude towards vasectomy is an essential strategy to scale up the intention of men to use vasectomy.

Intention to use vasectomy and associated factors among married men in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background

Vasectomy is one of the highly effective and non-reversible types of long-term family planning methods for men. Ethiopia has a limited number of studies on the use of vasectomy, and they are focused on men rather than married men. The current study was aimed to identify the intention to use vasectomy as a method of contraception among married men in the study setting.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February 1 – April 30, 2018. A sample of 422 married men was recruited using a systematic random sampling method. We conducted face to face interviews with a structured questionnaire (i.e. closed-ended questions). Data were entered into Epi data version 3.1 and SPSS version 23 used for data analysis. The statistical association between the outcome variable (Intention to use vasectomy) and the explanatory variables were first tested with binary logistic regression. Multivariable logistic regression was used to control for confounding effect of each predictor.

Results

The study findings showed that the intention to use vasectomy as a method of family planning was reported as high (24%). About 34.8% of the respondents had good knowledge and nearly a quarter (23.2%) of them had a positive attitude toward the acceptance of vasectomy use. In multivariate analysis, age range between 30 and 39 years [AOR = 2.4, 95% CI = (1.16–4.82)], having good knowledge about vasectomy use [AOR = 6.22, 95% CI = (3.17–12.21)], and having a positive attitude toward vasectomy use [AOR = 7.81, 95% CI = (4.25–14.38)] were factors significantly associated to use vasectomy as compared to their counterparts.

Conclusion

The level of acceptance of vasectomy (24%) was high compared to the level of its use in developing countries (i.e. if acceptability translates to use). The study revealed that age, good knowledge, and a positive attitude towards the use of vasectomy were important predictors of the intention to accept vasectomy. To further promote the use of vasectomy effective communication strategies in family planning programs are needed.

Religious beliefs, social pressure, and stigma: Rural women's perceptions and beliefs about vasectomy in Pwani, Tanzania

Despite being a reliable and cost effective family planning method, vasectomy remains underutilized in many low resource settings such as East Africa. We explored rural women’s perceptions and beliefs regarding barriers to vasectomy use in the low resource setting of Pwani, Tanzania. The qualitative study used in-depth semi-structured interviews to obtain data. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 20 married/cohabiting women with two or more children. Thematic analysis guided the data analysis, with qualitative data reporting informed by COREQ guidelines. Most participants were Muslim and had between two and six children. Most had completed primary-level education and were engaged in small-scale farming. We extracted three main themes with associated sub-themes:1) lack of education, which included men’s education levels and inadequate knowledge and misinformation 2) religious beliefs, social pressure and stigma, which included community stigma and the belief that vasectomy was not good for men with multiple wives; and 3) promoting men’s involvement in family planning which included educating men and the women’s perceived role in promoting vasectomy. Participating women perceived vasectomy uptake to be affected by a lack of low knowledge (among men, women, and the community), misinformation, and various sociocultural barriers. Efforts to promote vasectomy and male involvement in reproductive health services should be directed to addressing deeply-rooted sociocultural barriers. Women may have an essential role in encouraging their partners’ vasectomy uptake. In addition, engaging couples in family planning education is critical to enhance knowledge. Ideally, such community based education should be conducted in partnership with communities and healthcare providers.

Assessing the Acceptability of Vasectomy as a Family Planning Option: A Qualitative Study with Men in the Kingdom of Eswatini

The uptake of vasectomy in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa is low. In Eswatini, a kingdom with strong patriarchal norms, the use of vasectomy is at 0.3%. This is despite great efforts to introduce vasectomy and involve men in reproductive health. This study explored the views of men about the acceptability of vasectomy and their willingness to adopt vasectomy as a family planning option. Focus group discussions were conducted with adult men recruited from health facilities located in rural, semi urban, and urban areas in two of the regions of Eswatini. A thematic approach was used to analyze the data. The acceptability of and intention to use vasectomy as a family planning option was very low. Cultural beliefs, societal norms, lack of knowledge about the procedure for vasectomy, and misconceptions influenced the acceptability of vasectomy greatly. The participants could not grasp the concept of a family planning method that is as permanent as vasectomy. However, the decisions to accept or reject vasectomy were influenced by their misconceptions and fears about vasectomy and were not based on facts. To address the need to involve men in reproductive health and improve the acceptability and adoption of vasectomy, planning should be conducted with them and informed by their understanding of their needs.