Contraception usage among young adult men in a developing country

Paul A Bourne¹, Christopher AD Charles<sup>2,3

1</sup>Department of Community Health and Psychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica; ²King Graduate School, Monroe College, Bronx, New York, NY, USA; ³Center for Victim Support, Harlem Hospital Center, New York, NY, USA

Background: Jamaica is a Third World country with an increasing population and public resource constraints to address development imperatives, one of which is reproductive health.

Aims: This study examines the method of contraception used by men in Jamaica and the factors that influence their choice of contraceptives.

Materials and methods: The investigation was carried out with a stratified random sample of 2,437 men drawn from the National Family Planning Board dataset of men aged 15–24. The measures included variables such as age, crowding, area of residence, church attendance, method of contraception used, being in a relationship, the number of partners, having a pregnant woman partner, and being sexually active among other variables.

Results: The majority of the men had engaged in sexual intercourse in the last 30 days. Frequent church attendance increased sexual abstinence. The majority of the men who mostly got their contraceptives from the pharmacy mostly used a condom. Lesser used methods were the pill and the rhythm method, among others. The method of contraception used was significantly determined by having had sexual intercourse in the last 30 days with a nonsteady partner (OR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.40–2.86), sharing sanitary facilities with a nonhousehold member (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.42–0.94) and having a pregnant partner (OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.04–0.16).

Conclusion: A national reproductive health policy is needed that takes into account the type of contraceptives used, the institutional sources of information, the sources of contraceptives, the risk of sexually transmitted infections, and the three explanatory factors for the methods of contraception used.

Keywords: young men, reproductive health, contraception, sexual relations, developing nation