ASSESSMENT OF UTILIZATION OF FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES AMONG MARRIED COUPLES BASED ON GENDER AND AGE IN TARABA STATE, NIGERIA

Dr. Gemson, George Simon¹, Dr. Shaki Juliana Christopher², Haggai Rimamsikwe³, Zdwabi Bashiru Yerima⁴& Jesse Ephesian⁵, Tanko Noku⁶

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to assess the utilization of family planning services based on gender and age among married couples in Taraba State, Nigeria. In other to accomplish this purpose, two specific objectives with corresponding research questions were posed to guide the study. Two null hypothesis were postulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 1,649,032 married couples in Taraba State. The sample size for the study consisted of 1,200 married couples. The multi-stage sample procedure with appropriate techniques was employed to draw up the sample for the study. The instrument was researchers-structured questionnaire titled “Utilization of Family Planning Service Questionnaire (UFPSQ)” which was used to collect quantitative data. Cronbach Alpha coefficient was used to test the reliability of UFPSQ and a Reliability index of .87 was obtained. The quantitative data were analyzed using frequency and percentages to answer the research questions and Chi-square statistic was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study indicated that high proportion of married couples (51.4%) utilized sexuality education, high proportion of married couples (58.9%) utilized preconception counselling services, low proportion of married couples (45.5%) utilized infertility management services, high proportion of married couples (64.8%) utilized STIs management services and low proportion of married couples (42.9%) utilized contraceptives. Further findings indicated that about high proportion of TER (55.3%), planning services. More findings revealed that there was a significant difference in the proportion of married couples that utilized FP services based on gender (x² = 2.860; df = 1; p = .001 < .05), age (x² = 16.148; df = 2; p = .000 < .05). Based on these findings, the study recommended that family planning centers should be erected in strategic places in the various communities in the State to ensure that it is accessible and affordable to the married couples among others. This will help for a sustainable growth and development of Taraba State and Nigeria generally.

Keywords: Assessment, Utilization, Family Planning Services, Married Couples, Gender and Age.