Contraceptive behaviors and awareness in an urban slum community of south India

Objective: To assess the factors associated with knowledge, attitude and behavior of contraception use among urban slum population in Chennai. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban slum of Anakaputhur, Chennai. Married couples between ages of 19-49 years and living in slum areas were taken up for the study by simple random sampling. Pregnant women, postnatal and postmenopausal women were excluded from the study. Data collection was done using a pretested structured questionnaire focusing on details regarding contraception knowledge, attitude, and practices. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 22. Analytical test like Chi square and odds ratio (OR) were used to identify association between knowledge, attitude, and behavior of contraception with the associated variables and enter method of logistic regression analysis was done. Results: Out of the 360 respondents, 228 were females, with a mean age of (34±5) years. Approximately 43% demonstrated adequate knowledge of contraception use, and 91% were aware of at least one contraceptive method. Notably, 72% exhibited a positive attitude towards contraceptive use. Nevertheless, 43% (155 individuals) did not utilize any contraceptive method. Among contraceptive users, intrauterine devices were the most commonly adopted, followed by barrier methods and female sterilization. There was significant association between knowledge of contraception and education (a OR 7.29, 95% CI 2.93-18.10, P <0.05), age (a OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.193.50, P <0.05) and socioeconomic class (a OR 3.66, 95% CI 1.71-7.85, P <0.05; a OR 3.97, 95% CI 2.12-7.49, P <0.05). Regarding attitude towards contraception use, education (a OR 8.54, 95% CI 2.35-31.03, P <0.05), sex (a OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.06-0.37, P <0.05), age (a OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.28-0.99, P <0.05), socio-economic class (a OR 4.42, 95% CI 1.97-9.92, P <0.05; a OR 9.83, 95% CI 3.63-26.58, P <0.05) and number of children (a OR 10.04, 95% CI 4.26-23.66, P <0.05) were the variables that had a significant association. Conclusions: These findings underscore the imperative for enhanced dissemination of health education pertaining to contraception use within the slum population. The health sectors of the area and other stakeholders need to make sure to extend penetration of family planning related services to the urban slum population.