Nigerian men and modern contraceptives: who are the non-users and what are their perceptions about family planning?

Abstract

Introduction: the decision of men is pertinent to contraceptive uptake in a patriarchal society like Nigeria. Earlier studies on contraception in Nigeria have focused majorly on women. In this paper, we identified factors influencing contraceptive use, and non-users’ perceptions about family planning among Nigerian men.

Methods: using data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, this retrospective cross-sectional study focused on men aged 15-59 years. Three outcome variables were analysed: modern contraceptive use categorised as non-users or users; perception about contraception captured using two statements- “contraception is woman’s business”; “women who use contraception may become promiscuous”. Data were analyzed using multivariable logit model with robust standard errors (α= 0.05).

Results: mean age of the men was 37.3 years (SD=10.2). Out of 9622 study participants, 71.0% do not use any modern contraceptive method; 19.9% believed that contraception is woman’s business while 38.1% believed that women who used contraceptives may become promiscuous. Significant predictors of non-use of contraceptives and perceptions about family planning were older age, low education, Islamic religion, exposure to family planning messages, desire for more children and residence in Northern part of Nigeria.

Conclusion: large proportion of contraceptive non-users had negative perceptions. Educational intervention and advocacy among Nigerian men are essential to increase contraceptive uptake.