A study to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding contraceptives among married men in selected offices of Guwahati, Assam

In India uncontrolled population is recognised as the biggest threat to national development. In Indian society, women have more exposure to health care system in comparison to men. Male involvement in regulating family size has been a concern for the health policy makers. Many of the men are not aware about availability of free Contraceptive. The male involvement includes not only the male contraception but also the barrier and other national program activities which works towards increasing the awareness, acceptability and prevalence of family planning methods among the males. The primary aim of family planning enables women and men to plan their families and space their children through the use of modern contraceptives. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding contraceptives among married men in selected offices of Guwahati, Assam. Method and Material: A quantitative research approach and descriptive research study was adopt in this study. The technique used was self-reporting technique. Using purposive sampling technique, 100 married men from three settings i.e Assam power distribution corporation limited, Office of the Commissioner, Barak valley division and Sports and youth welfare office, Guwahati, Assam were taken for the study. Exclusive criteria are the married men who are not willing to participate in the study. Structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and four point likert scale was used to assess the attitude. Validity of the tool was established in consultation with guide and from experts in Obstetrics and gynaecology and from Community health nursing. The reliability of the tool was 0.8 for knowledge on contraceptive and for attitude was 0.87. Results: It was found that out of 100 married men, 46 (46%) of the respondents belongs to the age group between 31-40 years of age.65 (65%) of the respondents belongs to Hindu religion. It was observed that the majority 62(62%) of the respondents have passed Graduate.60( 60%) of the respondents belongs to Nuclear family. 38(38%) of the respondents income is in between Rs 30,000- Rs 50,000. 36(36%) of the respondents marriage at the age of 26-30 years. 44(44%) of the respondents were married in between 1-5 years.69( 69%) of the respondents have 1-2 children.29( 29%) of the respondents source of knowledge was from Mass Media. Majority i,e 54( 54%) of the respondents does not use any kind of contraception while the rest 46(46%) of the respondents were majorly using condom & copper T. Out of 100 respondent majority , 48( 48%) had inadequate knowledge, 48(48%) of the respondent had moderately adequate knowledge and the rest 8(8%) of them had adequate knowledge regarding contraceptive with mean 7.18 and SD 2.81.The study also revealed that out of 100 respondent , majority i ,e 54 (54%) had moderately desirable attitude,24(24%) had desirable attitude and the rest 22(22%) had undesirable attitude regarding male contraceptive with Mean 19.42 and SD 6.87. Conclusion: Majority of the married men had inadequate knowledge i,e 48(48%) and majority of them have shown moderately desirable attitude i,e 54(54%) towards contraceptive.