Socio-Demographic Predictors of Family Planning Methods Choice in Kakamega County Teaching Referral Hospital

Introduction: Contraceptive choice and adoption is fundamental in determining population growth, resource allocation and utilization, fertility and a key contributor towards meeting the sustainable development goal number three worldwide. Objective: To determine socio-demographic Predictors of family planning methods Choice in Kakamega County Teaching Referral Hospital (K. C. T. R. H). Materials and Methods: Data was collected using structured and semi structured questionnaires which were self-administered. Cross-sectional survey design was adopted where a sample size of 380 women who were admitted or visited FP clinic at Kakamega County Teaching Referral Hospital (K. C. T. R. H) participated. Simple random (systematic) sampling technique was used. Data was analysed using the SPSS version 20. For descriptive statistics; analysis of frequency, central tendency and dispersion such as mean and standard deviations were calculated to describe demographic characteristics. Results: Data showed that marital status, age, parity and religion were key predictors of family planning method choice.65 % of the respondents were married, 80 % of the respondents were of the age bracket of 25-49 and 51 % were Protestants. Respondents of parity status of six children or more were 66 %. The media and health facilities were confirmed to be means of information exchange on FP and influence on utilization. A minority of 1 % had read books and other written literature as the source of their information on FP. Conclusion: Socio demographic predictors have a significant role in influencing the choice of family planning method utilized. This means that a positive change in either of these variables will have a positive effect on contraceptive preference and choice leading to greater uptake of FP methods and generally increase in the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) of Kakamega County.