A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS PREFERRED IN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS IN TAMIL NADU

Introduction: Every fifth birth in the world is an Indian, and 50% percent of the Indian population are of reproductive age. There is still a large unmet need for contraception in India, and efforts to tackle the situation need to be strengthened. The prevalence of male sterilisation still stands at a meagre 2%. Aim: To assess the preference of eligible couples for adoption of permanent methods of contraception Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted among eligible couples who have at least one child, was conducted for a period of 3 months (June â?“ September) 2009, in Sanjeevarayanpet an urban health post (Chennai district), and Alamadhi a rural PHC (Thiruvallur district) which are the field practice areas of the Community Medicine Department. Results: The most preferred method of contraception in both urban and rural areas was found to be permanent method of contraception namely Female Sterilization. In an attempt to find awareness about non-scalpel vasectomy among our study subjects, we found that only about 65% of the subjects were aware. However, the awareness was more among the urban population. A higher awareness level was also noted among the higher income groups and a higher education status. Most of the males agreed frankly that they were not interested in considering a vasectomy in future, the few who agreed also belonged mostly to the urban study area. The main reason for acceptance was limitation of family size. Few of those who were aware of non-scalpel vasectomy believed in some myths about the procedure, the same are responsible to some extent for the non â?“ acceptance of the procedure. The rural and urban population can be seen to derive their knowledge on non-scalpel vasectomy from the general practitioners. When compared to nonscalpel vasectomy, however, a much higher awareness was seen to be prevalent on tubectomy. Last but not the least, most of the study subjects were not curious to know more about non-scalpel vasectomy, as they strongly believed that family planning is a responsibility of the females. Key words: Contraception, non-scalpel vasectomy, tubectomy.