Bontu Aschale Abebe and Tadele Mekuriya Yadesa
Background: The Ethiopian population with an estimated current population of over 77.4 million people is the second most populous country in Africa next to Nigeria. The population is growing at a rate of 2.7 percent annually. All modern methods which provide a wide range of protection from durations of as short as days (pills, injectables, condoms and other barrier methods) to permanent protection such as voluntary surgical sterilization, implants, intra uterine device, are available in Ethiopia. However, utilization is limited more to the shorter-term methods such as pills and injectables.
Objective: the study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of LACMs among child-bearing age women visiting Shanan Gibe hospital, Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia.
Methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted. To obtain a representative sample, systematic random sampling technique was used based on list of the house numbers of the kebele. Data was collected using questionnaire based interview to assess socioeconomic status, and the knowledge, attitude and practice towards LARCMs.
Results, conclusion and recommendations: Among the 359 reproductive age women studied, only 205 (57.1%) know LARCMs while the remaining 154 (42.9%) do not know them. Generally, the knowledge, attitude and practice of the respondents were found to be poor but generally comparable with literatures. This may be due to inadequate health education provision to the clients during their visits to the health care workers and comprehensive health education on the merits and demerits of different alternatives of family planning should be provided to the clients during their visits to the health care facilities. The rate of use of LARCMs which was 115 (56.1%) among the 205 respondents who know LARCMs. The responsible health care workers should be committed in creating awareness about LARCMs and health education, appropriate medical treatment and counseling services should be consistently provided to the clients.
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