Ugandan Women’s View of the IUD: Generally Favorable but Many Have Misperceptions About Health Risks

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FIGURE 1.
Modern Contraceptive Method Mix Among Married Contraceptive Users, Uganda, 2015
Abbreviations: IUD, intrauterine device; SDM, Standard Days Method.
Source: PMA, 2015‐Uganda.³
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FIGURE 2.
Sampling Procedure: Participants Interviewed at Public, Private, and Pro‐Fam Franchise Facilities in Each of the 38 Selected Subcounties

TABLE 1. Reliability Analysis Using Cronbach’s Alpha for Attitudes and Beliefs About the IUD

	Cronbach’s alpha
Attitudes	0.862
The IUD is a good method of family planning.
IUDs are safe.
The IUD is an effective contraceptive method for women like me.
Beliefs	0.880
Using IUDs can result in cancer.
IUDs can damage the womb.
Prolonged use of IUDs can cause infertility.

TABLE 2. Characteristics of Survey Participants (N = 1,505)

TABLE 3. Opportunity and Ability Factors (%) Related to IUDs Among Survey Participants by Background Characteristics

	Opportunity				Ability
Characteristic	Heard of IUDs (N=1,505)	P Value	Perception of IUD Availability (n=1,321)^a	P Value	Correct IUD Knowledge (n=1,321)^b	P Value
Marital status		<.001		.45		.005
Married/cohabiting	90.8		49.0		40.9
Not married	80.5		46.7		32.5
Age		<.001		.02		.01
15–24	84.0		45.0		34.4
25–34	92.0		53.0		41.8
35–49	89.2		46.0		43.8
Parity		.92		.85		.07
1–2	90.5		48.8		37.4
3–4	90.9		50.8		41.7
5 or more	89.9		50.0		46.1
Uses family planning		<.001		.97		.006
No	82.5		48.9		33.7
Yes	91.5		49.0		41.9
Type of family planning		.001		.05		.03
Traditional	86.1		43.3		35.6
Modern	92.6		50.3		43.3
Listens to radio		.13		.30		.006
Not at all	85.3		72.5		25.3
Usually	88.1		78.7		39.6
Watches TV		.01		.70		.83
Not at all	85.3		77.7		38.9
Usually	89.7		78.8		38.4
Type of facility used for health care services		.29		.008		.30
Public	86.5		48.6		36.5
Private, non-franchise	89.5		45.6		40.3
Private, franchise	87.9		58.6		41.4
Total	87.8		48.4		38.6

Abbreviation: IUD, intrauterine device.
Significant P values ≤ .05 are shown in boldface.
↵a Percentage of women who had heard of IUDs and who responded positively to the statement, “IUDs are always available in the community and in a facility nearby.”
↵b Percentage of women who had heard of IUDs and who knew the correct answers to the following statements: “IUDs can be used while breastfeeding” (correct answer: yes); “Once removed, a woman can get pregnant” (correct answer: yes); and “IUDs protect against sexually transmitted infections” (correct answer: no).

TABLE 4. Motivation Factors Related to IUDs Among Survey Participants by Background Characteristics (N = 1,505)

Characteristic	Mean Attitude Score^a	P Value	Mean Beliefs Score^b	P Value
Marital status		.62		<.001
Married/cohabiting	3.6		3.0
Not married	3.6		3.5
Age group		.09		.04
15–24	3.5		3.2
25–34	3.9		3.0
35–49	3.5		3.4
Parity		.64		.86
1–2	3.6		3.2
3–4	3.6		3.1
5 or more	3.7		3.0
Uses family planning		.35		.002
No	3.4		3.4
Yes	3.6		3.0
Type of family planning		.44		.08
Traditional	3.6		3.2
Modern	3.6		3.0
Listens to radio		.48		.89
Not at all	3.4		3.1
Usually	3.6		3.2
Watches TV		.71		.38
Not at all	3.6		3.2
Usually	3.6		3.1
Facility type		.25		.003
Public	3.6		3.2
Private, non-franchise	3.5		3.3
Private, franchise	3.7		2.8
Overall score	3.6		3.6

Abbreviation: IUD, intrauterine device.
Significant P values ≤ .05 are shown in boldface.
↵a Women’s scores out of a total 5 for the following 3 statements: The IUD is a good family planning method; The IUD is a safe family planning method; and The IUD is an effective family planning method.
↵b Women’s scores out of a total 5 for the following 3 statements: The IUD can result in cancer; The IUD can damage the womb; and Prolonged use of IUDs can cause infertility.

GHSP-D-15-00304 Supplementary Material

Twesigye et al. doi: 10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00304

supplementary material - Twesigye et al. doi: 10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00304