Yibeltal Mesfin
Background or Objectives: Ethiopia has high fertility rate which around 1% of the population is affect by one from of disability. However, a little know about factor affecting unmet need of family planning to disabled women. The aim of this study was to assess the unmet need for family planning and associated factors among married disabled women in southern Ethiopia.
Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 312 disabled married and union women. Simple random sampling was adopted. Data were collected by four diploma midwife and one of them proficient in sign language. Epi-info TM version-7 and SPSS version 20 for were used for entry analysis of data respectively.
Result: The prevalence of unmet family planning among disabled married and union were 25.17%. Factor significantly associated with unmet need for family planning were: age group 20-24 (AOR=5.4:95% CI,1.6-18.4) time more than age above 30, not discussed with their partners and negative attitude (AOR 3:95% CI, 1.3-7.1) & (AOR 2.4:95% CI, 1.1-5.6) times more likely than counterparts respectively.
Conclusion: The level of unmet need of family planning methods was high among disabled married and union women and factors significantly associated were age, discuss with partner and attitude. Therefore governmental and non-governmental organizations should work on case by case. Male involvement on reproductive discussion should address.