Investigating the Frequency of Contraceptive Methods and Multiple Different Factors Influencing the Choice among Women in Tehran, Iran

Background aim: Family planning has pivotal role in the improvement of various aspects of community health. Owing to the incomplete previously performed studies, the present work was aimed to determine the frequency of contraception methods and the key selection factors among the women residing in Tehran. Methods: An analytical and observational cross‐sectional study was performed on 395 women (18‐40 years old) whom were referred to multiple private clinics in three strict of Tehran determined through clustering sampling, during January to July 2019. A questionnaire including 24 questions was filled for all the participants. The questions were designed to determine the type of contraception and multiple influencing factors of selection including demographic characteristics, attitude of women and their husbands, social, economic and cultural factors. Obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 22). Results: Frequency of the different contraceptive methods was meaningfully different among women with various age categories (p=0.01). The overall rate of using contraception was 75.2% and traditional methods were the most prevalent contraception (55.9%). Housing location was meaningfully associated with no contraception (P=0.04), and except for withdrawal, house size (P 0.0001) and family income (P=0.007) were significantly associated with the type of contraception. Moreover, it was shown that the attitude of women and their husbands plus to the number of children significantly affected the contraception choice (P 0.0001). Conclusion: High prevalence of withdrawal method even among highly educated women is relying on the demand for education programs, especially among couples who are seeking the least successful contraceptive methods.