What question did this study set out to answer?

This study aims to assess awareness and use of family planning among women in rural Turkey, focusing on factors influencing contraceptive behavior.

June 3, 2026Acibadem Universitesi Saglik Bilimleri Dergisi0 citationsOpen Access

High Awareness, Low Use: Determinants of Contraceptive Use and Knowledge among Rural Women in Northeastern Turkey

ECErhan Hüseyin CÖMERTKoç University NTNeşe TürkmenHalliburton (United Kingdom)ÜDÜmran Karabulut DoğanMeliksah University

Key Points

This study aims to assess awareness and use of family planning among women in rural Turkey, focusing on factors influencing contraceptive behavior.
Descriptive cross-sectional study design conducted in Ardahan State Hospital
822 sexually active women aged 15-65 completed a structured questionnaire
Multivariable regression analyses used to evaluate associations with contraceptive use.
77.1% awareness of intrauterine devices; 41.1% reported current contraceptive use.
Higher education (adjusted OR = 1.28, p = 0.003), greater parity (adjusted OR = 1.87, p < 0.001), and higher knowledge score (adjusted OR = 1.35, p = 0.001) associated with contraceptive use.
Withdrawal remained a common method despite high awareness of modern contraceptive options.

Abstract

Objective: To assess women’s awareness, use, and preferences regarding family planning (FP) methods in a remote rural province of northeastern Turkey and to examine how education, parity, and contraceptive knowledge shape contraceptive behavior.Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 822 sexually active women aged 15–65 years attending Ardahan State Hospital between January 2019 and December 2020 completed a structured questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, reproductive history, awareness and use of contraceptive methods, reasons for non-use, and sources of information. Knowledge of ten modern methods was operationalized as recognition of each method and scored from 0 to 10. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA, and multivariable regression (binary logistic for current contraceptive use; linear for knowledge score) were applied.Results: The mean age was 30.9 ± 8.4 years. Awareness of modern methods was high (77.1% for intrauterine devices and 63.6% for both oral pills and condoms), yet only 41.1% reported current use of any contraceptive method, including withdrawal. Among users, the intrauterine device (52.7%) and withdrawal (21.3%) were the most common methods. In multivariable analysis, higher education (adjusted OR = 1.28, p = 0.003), greater parity (adjusted OR = 1.87, p 0.001), and higher contraceptive-knowledge score (adjusted OR = 1.35, p = 0.001) were independently associated with current contraceptive use, whereas age and income were not significant predictors.Conclusion: In this rural setting, modern contraceptive methods were widely known; however, uptake of modern methods remained limited and withdrawal remained common. Although pregnancy intention accounted for a substantial share of non-use, strengthening female education and embedding midwife- and physician-led FP counselling into routine primary care may help close the gap between awareness and effective contraceptive practice in rural Turkey and comparable middle-income country contexts.

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