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Assessment of the awareness and usages of family planning methods in the Lebanese community
  1. Ghada El Khoury1,
  2. Pascale Salameh2
  1. 1 Pharmacy, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon
  2. 2 Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ghada El Khoury, Pharmacy, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon; ghada.khoury{at}lau.edu.lb

Abstract

Background Worldwide, one in three women has unmet family planning (FP) needs because of difficulties in accessing or using contraceptives. In Lebanon, information from the scientific literature on the national prevalence of contraceptive use appears scarce.

Objective In view of this, we measured the current Lebanese national prevalence of FP methods’ uptake among women and men of reproductive age, and we assessed barriers for potential unmet need.

Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey on a nationally representative sample of 825 married women (aged 15–49 years) and men of reproductive age (aged 18+ years). We used the validated Demographic & Health Survey (DHS) data collection tool and analysed data with SPSS Version 22.0 with p values <0.05 considered statistically significant.

Results We found that the current prevalence of contraceptive use is 55.6%, the unmet need is 11.4%, the total demand for FP is 67% and the percentage of satisfied demand for FP is 83%. Despite favourable knowledge of and access to FP methods as well as positive attitudes towards FP; there is a clear stagnation in the rate of contraception use over the past four decades. The identified major factors hindering the use of FP methods in Lebanon appear to be religion, age and lower educational levels.

Conclusion We suggest the implementation of effective interventions at the national level to promote and encourage the uptake of modern FP methods among couples. The latter will further promote maternal and child health, as well as empower women to fulfil their equal function in society.

  • contraception
  • predictors
  • barriers
  • prevalence of use
  • Lebanon

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Footnotes

  • Contributors GEK was responsible for the planning, conception and design of the study. PS was responsible for the acquisition of data and its analysis. Both authors worked on the interpretation of data and write-up of the manuscript.

  • Funding The study was funded by the American University of Beirut’s Knowledge is Power (KIP) project academic research award (2016).

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

  • Data availability statement Data are available upon reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.

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