Farzana Aamir, Sheena.
Assessment of knowledge practices and barriers in family planning services in Korangi Industrial Area Karachi.
Pak J Surg Jan ;30(4):327-30.

Objective: To assess the knowledge, practices and barriers in utilization of family planning services in women coming from Korangi industrial area at jinnah Medical College Hospital Karachi. Design: Descriptive cross sectional study. Sett ing and duration: Out-patients departments of Gynecology and obstetrics Jinnah Medical Hospital Korangi industrial area Karachi from February, 2014 to May, 2014. Patients: Total 400 married women of reproductive age group between 20 – 40 years of age from out patients departments of Gynecology and obstetrics. Methodology: Data was collected on a preformed questionnaire. Results were compiled and compared with national and international literature. Results: During this study period 400 females visited in out patient’s department the study participants were asked about the existing knowledge of diff erent family planning methods. Regarding level of education (74%) was illiterate & majority of them belongs to low socioeconomic class. Middle aged women with high parity were comparatively more aware & practicing contraception than younger age group. It was observed that out of 400 women (34.2%) had knowledge about injectables & (15.5%) were practicing, (29.5) were aware about the OCPs and (12.5%) were using this method of contraception. Likewise (26%) women were aware about Barrier method & (14.2%) knew about IUCD but (10.7%) & (4.2%) were practicing this method respectively. Few alarming things found in this study that (46%) participants were not aware and were not practicing any method. T he main reason for not practicing contraception was husband’s disapproval (25.5%) , in-laws disapproval (22%) ,followed by fear of side effects (16.2% ) , religious prohibition (11.7% ) & need more children (9.5%). Conclusion: Th e main reason behind poor knowledge & hindrances in practice in this area was illiteracy, and low socioeconomic status.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com