Married Men And Family Planning: A Rural Urban Comparative Study In Southeast Nigeria

Background: Over the years, the role of men in family planning (FP) has been continuously emphasized. This study sought to assess and compare the knowledge, perception, and use of FP among married men in the rural and urban areas of Southeast Nigeria.Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was carried out among 300 married men in urban and rural Local Government Areas of Anambra State Southeast Nigeria. (150 rural, 150 urban) selected by a multistage sampling method. Data collection was done using a semi-structured intervieweradministered questionnaire and analysis done using Epi info version (3.5.1). The level of significance was set at p<0.05.Results: About half (54%) of respondents in the urban area and 41.3% in the rural area had good knowledge of FP with no significant  difference (p=0.562). Their perception of FP was good but was better in the urban area (66.7% urban, 57.3% rural), though this  difference was not statistically significant. The married men in both areas had poor FP use rates (30.7% urban and 24.7% rural). Many respondents in both areas desired large families. In the urban area, knowledge was significantly associations with the respondents' age (p = 0.019), educational status (p<0.001), employment status (p<0.001) and income (p<0.001). In the rural area however, both  knowledge and perception of FP showed statistically significant associations with the respondents' age (p=0.017, p<0.001 respectively), educational status (p=0.018, p=0.033 respectively) and employment status (p=0.002, p=0.001 respectively), while income was significantly associated with perception alone (p=0.049).Conclusion: Knowledge, perception and use of FP, though generally suboptimal, was lower among those in the rural area. Carefully designed interventions aimed at increasing married men's knowledge and their utilization of FP should be implemented in both urban and rural areas. Key words: Family Planning, male involvement, comparative, reproductive health, Nigeri