Revisiting Male Sterilization for Contraception in Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Where do the Women Stand

Abstract

Background: The various advancements in the armamentarium of modern contraceptive service are many, yet the methods available for men are few; worse still, their effective participation is embarrassingly low. Considering the high failure rate of the male condom as a contraceptive method and the numerous unwanted effects of the varied female methods, vasectomy remains a promising way to go in contraception; hence the periodic monitoring of its acceptance/practice trend, especially by women, in this part of the globe.  Objective: To assess the knowledge and willingness to support the practice of vasectomy by women in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Method: It was a cross-sectional descriptive questionnaire based prospective study of consenting 249 parous women attending the family planning clinic in the 2 University Teaching Hospitals in Port Harcourt. The pre-tested validated questionnaire was administered on the participants by two trained assistants. Data on their socio-demographic characteristics, awareness and willingness to support the practice of vasectomy were obtained and entered into excel sheet and analyzed using SPSS version 20, taking p value of 0.05 at 95 percent confidence interval as significant. The result was expressed in tables of percentages and frequencies. Results: Of the two hundred and forty nine women who were involved in the study, 224(89.96%) were within the reproductive age grouping 15 – 45 and 25(10.04%) were above 45 years. Most of them, 234 (93.98%) had at least a secondary education. A high percentage of the respondents, 212(83.14%) knows vasectomy does not reduce potency, they could not say for sure if it affects male fertility (51.81%); but 164(65.86%) knows it mechanism of action, 191(76.71%) said it is very effective means of contraception while 184(73.90%) knows it is safe. One hundred and forty one (56.63%) of the women will not give consent for their spouse to have vasectomy done. However, if they are reassured on their worries on vasectomy, 135 (54. 22%) will give their support for the procedure. Reasons for not wanting vasectomy include being a permanent method (30.53%), it surgical method (20.60%) and against their faith (20.22%). Conclusion: The knowledge of vasectomy of women in Port Harcourt is high but their willingness to support this practice is low. Reassurance on their concerns improved their support for the procedure. Sustained adequate counseling is needed to surmount this obstacle to the much desired practice of vasectomy in this part of the world.