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Abstract
Objective:
To determine the frequency of factors influencing the utilization of family planning services in women of advanced age.
Methods:
We included 200 pregnant women with advanced maternal age >30 years to 40 years. The eligible patients were asked to fill the questionnaire that included information regarding the use of family planning, methods used for family planning and factors influencing the use of family planning. Data was entered prospectively in SPSS v25 software.
Results:
Regarding age, the majority of participants—66%—were between 30 and 35 years old, while the remaining 34% fell into the 35 to 40-year age bracket. In the study population, only 33% of participants reported having ever used family planning in their lifetime. Sufficient knowledge of family planning was present in 36.5% of individuals, while 42.5% stated that family planning services were easily available to them. Among the 134 participants who did not use family planning, 29.8% cited cultural norms as a barrier, and 33.5% reported fear of side effects. Additionally, 13.4% identified the cost of contraceptives as a limiting factor, and 23.1% pointed to limited access to healthcare facilities.
Conclusion:
The family planning frequency in the present study was 33.0%. Cultural norms and fear of side effects are the common factors influencing family planning practices in Pakistan.