Factors influencing male involvement in the utilization of family planning in Chato District, Geita –Tanzania

Tanzania is one of the countries with the highest Total Fertility Rate in Africa of 5.2 and at 32% level of family planning utilization. Low involvement of men in family planning among others influences its utilization in many African societies. Males are observed to dominate in decision-making including issues of family planning. Though family planning is known to prevent maternal deaths, but some cultural norms, and service delivery factors make it difficult to achieve. This thesis documents the current level of family planning utilization among men and identifies the possible underlying factors influencing male involvement in the utilization of family planning. Using descriptive cross-sectional study compounded with quantitative and qualitative techniques, data were collected through a questionnaire administered to 496 participants in 4 wards of Chato District. Also Focused Group Discussions and Key Informant interviews were conducted from each of these areas. Data analyzed through SPSS, while using chi-square, bivariate analysis was done to assess the effect of individual factors on family planning utilization. Multiple logistic regression was then run to assess for the effect of potential confounding variables. The analysis revealed that there is very low level of family planning utilization among men (17.5%), which suggest that, there is low male involvement in the utilization of family planning in Chato District. There are many factors which contribute to this low utilization but the leading ones are said to be, distance to family planning clinics, men’s approval on utilization of family planning and side effects of family planning methods. The study recommends the need for family planning programme to adopt the approaches that integrate men into existing family planning services in order to improve family planning use and its sustainability