Unmet needs for family planning among married women aged 15-49 years living in two settlements with different socioeconomic and cultural characteristics: A cross sectional study from karabuk province in Turkey

• Published in: Rural and remote health 2019-01, Vol.19 (3), p.1-9
• Main Authors: Ozdemir, Raziye, Cevik, Celalettin, Ciceklioglu, Meltem
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Complications; Contraception Behavior - psychology; Contraception Behavior - statistics & numerical data; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cultural Characteristics; Developing Countries; Education; Employment; Empowerment; Family income; Family planning; Family planning services; Family Planning Services - organization & administration; Family Planning Services - statistics & numerical data; Female; Fertility; Health aspects; Honor killings; Households; Humans; Marriage; Middle Aged; Needs Assessment - statistics & numerical data; Neighborhoods; Pregnancy; Regression analysis; Reproductive health; Reproductive health services; Risk factors; Rural areas; Rural Population - statistics & numerical data; Rural women; Social aspects; Sociodemographics; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomics; Spouses - psychology; Spouses - statistics & numerical data; Turkey; Urban Population - statistics & numerical data; Variables; Womens health; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1445-6354; 1445-6354
• DOI: 10.22605/RRH5125

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate levels and related factors of the unmet needs for family planning among married women aged 15-49 years living in two settlements (rural and urban) having different economic, social and cultural structures in Karabuk, a province in north-western Turkey. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural Cumayani village and the urban Emek neighbourhood between October 2016 and June 2017. The sample size was determined to be 289 married women aged 15-49 years from each settlement according to the effect size of 0.3, alpha error probability of 0.05 and power of 0.95. In the study, 594 currently married women (298 from Cumayani and 296 from Emek) were contacted. The dependent variable was the level of unmet need for family planning. The independent variables included the sociodemographic and reproductive characteristics of the women. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews. The characteristics of the two settlements were compared using the 'X'2 test. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to examine the factors associated with the dependent variable. Results: The comparison of the participants demonstrated that the education, employment and income levels of the rural women were lower than those of the urban women ('p' < 0.001). The rural women had more pregnancies, miscarriages and stillbirths, and the mortality among their children was higher compared to the urban women ('p' < 0.001). The level of unmet need for family planning in Cumayani village was about twice that of Emek neighbourhood (9.7% v 5.4%). The multivariate analysis was conducted separately for each settlement. Marrying by way of only a religious ceremony increased the level of unmet need for family planning by 4.61 times (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-16.1) ('p'=0.016) in Cumayani. The multivariate analysis of all the women participating in the study revealed that marriage by way of only a religious ceremony increased the level of unmet need by 4.96 times (95%CI 1.4-17.1) ('p'=0.011). Conclusion: The study showed the effects of socioeconomic and cultural factors on womenʼs fertility behaviours and unmet needs for family planning to favour urban women. Not being married by civil marriage was a significant predictor of unmet need. These findings highlight a need for intervention, particularly for the empowerment of rural women, in order to improve reproductive health outcomes.