Factors Influencing Contraceptive Use among Rural Women in Ijero – Local Government Area of Ekiti - State, Nigeria

This study was designed to essentially determine the relationship between socio-demographic factors and contraceptive use. This was with the view of identifying existing barriers to contraceptive use in the county. The study adopted a community-based, descriptive cross-sectional study. The target population was women of reproductive age, 15 to 49 years living in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State. Using the sample size calculation formula, a sample of 250 women was randomly selected for the study. Data was collected using questionnaires translated and back-translated between the English and the local Yoruba language. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 20 to generate descriptive and inferential statistics such as contingency tables and bar charts. Chi square was used to find relationship between non parametric variables by testing for association at 5% (p=0, 05) level of significance. Key findings of the study reveals that respondents were young adults and largely in their reproductive age span, more than three-quarters were Christian, more than two-fifths have secondary school education; 76.8% of the sample were working; nine out of every ten women have heard about contraceptives, many respondents have used at least one type of conceptive method, Injections method was the most popular conceptive method among the respondents, and more than 30.4% of the respondents heard about contraceptives through television. Results further show that: women have considerable knowledge on different aspects of the modern contraceptives, 89.6% of women were of the view that modern contraceptive prevents unwanted pregnancy; 39.2% perceived modern contraceptive as something that can boost husband fidelity (39.2%); the most common negative effect of modern contraceptives reported is irregular menstruation among the users; and women in the study area have used injections (22%) and condoms (20.8%) more than any other modern contraceptive methods.