PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS UTILIZATION OF FEMALE CONDOM AMONG MARRIED WOMEN IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OYO STATE

Abstract

Many married women in the less developed countries would prefer to avoid unintended pregnancies and STls but the use of female condom among them is low. This study aimed to determine the perception and attitude of married women towards utilization of female condomand prevalence of its use. A descriptive cross sectional analytical survey was carried out in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State. Simple random sampling was used to select the participants and interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collected. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, awareness, perception and utilization of female condom was collected. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis and logistic regression. The level of statistical significance was set at 95% confidence level. The mean age of the respondents was 32.4 years (±6.6). More than half (67.5%) of the respondents have heard about female _condoms. On perception, 30.4% agreed that female condom protect against unplanned pregnancy, 34.0% agreed that it protect against STIs. On attitude, 59.8% of women agreed that the female condom is unfavorable and 69.l % would not recommend female condom to other women. On prevalence of female condom use, one-third (18.1%) respondent had ever used a female condom. Majority (99.5%) of educated women, had knowledge of female condom use. Cross tabulation revealed a significant relationship between attitude of women and use of female condom (p<0.001); perception of married women was significant with female condom use (p<0.001). On logistic regression, perception of married women showed significant relationship with use of female condom among married women (OR: 5.64; 95% CI 2.6-14.13). Education was not significantly related with female condom use (OR: 0.79; 95% CI 0.14-4.30). In conclusion, awareness, perception, attitude towards female condom remains low among married women in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo state. There is need to maximize the level of awareness of female condom use among the rural women and those with low level of education about HIV/ AIDS, sexually transmitted infections.