Effecting Factors on Choosing Unsafe Contraception Methods and Unwanted Pregnancy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Addiction Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

2 General Practitioner, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

3 Medical Student, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Women who do not use contraception methods correctly and regularly, also those who use withdrawal method which is traditional and common in Iran are high risk for unwanted pregnancy. The aim of this study was to determine the effective factors on choosing unsafe contraception methods.
Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 174 pregnant women who were referred to health center of Torghabeh, Mashhad, Iran, 2012 for pregnancy health care. Demographic data, reproductive variables and the type of contraception methods collected from prenatal care health records and analyzed using SPSS software version 13, t-test, chi-square and Fisher tests. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.           
Results: 42 women of 174 (24%) did not use any kind of contraception methods before their pregnancy, from the remaining cases, 52 women (39.4%) used safe contraception and 80 women (60.6%) used withdrawal method. Mean age of women was 26.5±4.8 years. 61 women (46.2%) had diploma or higher education level, 125 women (94.7%) were housewives and 50 cases (37.8%) were in their first pregnancy. The number of previous pregnancies had a significant relationship with the type of contraception methods (p<0.05) and women who had no previous pregnancy experience, used withdrawal method 1.5 times more.
Conclusion: History of pregnancy and number of previous pregnancies were the only effective factors on unselecting unsafe contraception methods and women who had no previous pregnancy were more susceptible to select and use withdrawal method.
 

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