Predictors of long acting and permanent contraceptive methods utilization among Women in Rural North Shoa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: According to available evidence, one in three married women in Ethiopia tends to avoid multiple children. On the other hand, women using Long Acting and Permanent Contraceptive Methods (LAPMs) are just 5 %. So, we aimed at identifying the factors associated with the utilization of LAPMs. METHODS: We conducted a community based unmatched case control study among married women living in the rural areas of North Shoa zone, Ethiopia, in March 2015. The cases were married women using LAPMs, while controls were married women who were using modern short term methods. We recruited a total sample of 406 married women for this study on a 1:1 case to control ratio basis. We collected the data through interview using a pre tested questionnaire, and then a logistic regression model was fitted to the data to examine factors associated with the utilization of LAPMs. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with the corresponding 95% confidence interval was computed. RESULTS: In our study, women whose husbands were daily laborers [AOR; 95% CI: 4.4(1.23,15.72)], who had $85-$140 monthly household income [AOR; 95% CI: 1.8(1.10,3.14)], and who were aged less than 20 years and below when they gave the first birth [AOR; 95% CI: 1.78, 4.90) were more likely to use LAPMs compared to women whose husbands were government employees, who had less than $85 monthly household income, and who were aged 20 years and above when they gave first child. CONCLUSION: We found that husbands' characteristics were more important than their wives characteristics in influencing women's utilization of LAPMs though such husband characteristics considered in this study were few in number. So, we recommend further research to examine the different characteristics of husbands responsible for women's utilization of LAPMs.