Trends of Adopting Family Planning Methods over 30 Years from National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-1 to NFHS-5 in India

Introduction: Adopting family planning methods is an important intervention in controlling the population of any country. The current study includes trends in adopting family planning methods over 30 years from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), India. Methods: This study extracted data from five NFHS rounds between 1992 and 2021 on variables such as any method of contraception, any modern method, female sterilization, male sterilization, pills, intrauterine devices (IUD), injectables, and condoms adopted by people, opting the public sector as a source of modern contraceptive methods, and male opinion on contraception (NFHS-3 to NFHS-5). Data were entered and analyzed in Microsoft Excel. Absolute differences in rates, trend lines, and bar charts were plotted to present the magnitude of results. Results: The study found a decline in male sterilization and uptake of female sterilization and condoms as contraceptive methods at the national level and in almost all the states. Mizoram and Kerala had decreased rates of contraception use (any method: 22.6% and 2.6%; any modern method: 22.1% and 1.6%; male sterilization: 0.1% and 6.4%; IUD: 2.3% and 1.2%, respectively) from NFHS-1 to NFHS-5. The opinion of men on female contraception use varied in Punjab, Chandigarh, Tripura, and Kerala. Rural areas, rather than urban areas, used the public health sector more for obtaining contraceptive methods. Conclusion: High variability in adopting family planning methods and beliefs of males regarding contraceptive use make family planning a sensitive issue, one which should be dealt with cautiously to upscale family planning services.