Abstract:
Women who live in estates continue to have unmet family planning needs. This
research was conducted to determine the potential impact of educational
interventions on respondents' knowledge and attitudes regarding contraception.
In the Kosgalawatteestate, a quasi-experimental interventional study was
conducted with women of reproductive age (18 to 49). 100 women selected from
an eligible family register using simple random sampling were given a pre-tested
self-administered questionnaire. A grading method was used to determine their
average degree of knowledge and desirable attitudes toward contraception.
Following the implementation of an interventional program, the post-knowledge
and attitudes were evaluated using the same question formats after two weeks,
and a score was calculated. The results of a means were compared using an
independent sample T-test. 2.38 children on average (n=100) are born to each
mother in this sample. Following the intervention, there was a statistically
significant (p<0.05) improvement in the knowledge of the frequency of depot
injections by 38.3%, the significance of emergency tablets by 36.9% and the
effects of missing pills by 33.1%. The average score for the entire sample of 10
questions about knowledge of contraception before the intervention was 4.84/10
(n=100 SD=1.8948) and after the intervention, it was increased to 7.65/10 (n=87
SD=1.2924). The average score for the entire sample of 10 questions about
desirable attitudes towards contraception before the intervention was 12.09/20
(n=100 SD=2.3574) and it was increased to 14.701/20 (n=87 SD=3.0580) after
the intervention. The mean difference in attitude is -2.6111 and the mean
difference in knowledge is -2.8152, both of which are statistically significant.
(p<0.05). The introduction of more interventional initiatives on family planning
is needed to increase the knowledge and attitude of unmet family planning needs
in people living in Estate sector.
