KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARD FAMILY PLANNING AND CONTRACEPTIVE USE AMONG FEMALE ATTENDANTS IN AL-SHARQIYAH PRIMARY HEALTHCARE CENTER IN YANBU CITY, KSA, 2021

Background: Birth control or contraception has become a fundamental part of women's healthcare, by which unintended pregnancies are prevented, and family planning is achieved using effective and safe methods. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among women attending primary health care in Yanbu to assess women's knowledge practice and attitude toward family planning and contraceptive use. The data was collected by the Google questionnaire, which includes 4 parts: sociodemographic data, knowledge, attitude, and family planning methods. Results: A total of 342 women were included in this study, 97.1% were married, and 60.2% had university degrees. More than half of the participants (53.2%) recorded good knowledge levels, only 2.9% had good attitudes, and 10.5% had a good practice. Educational level and occupation were significantly associated with family planning knowledge (P=0.000) and (P=0.01), respectively. The husband's occupation (P=0.031), the age at the first pregnancy (P=0.041), and the age of the youngest child (P=0.001) were all significantly associated with good and poor family planning knowledge. Conclusions: The current study demonstrated relatively good knowledge, poor attitudes, and fair practice regarding family planning and contraceptives among the female population in Yanbu city, Saudi Arabia. Education and occupation were associated with higher knowledge levels which imply the need for education health programs to aware the women of reproductive age about family planning. Keywords: knowledge, attitude, practice, family planning, contraceptives; Saudi Arabia