Communication and Spousal Contraceptive Use among Males in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined communication and spousal contraceptive use among males in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The population of the study consisted of all 2,239,399 males between the ages of 15-69years in Rivers State. A sample size of 600 was selected for the study using a multistage sampling procedure. Data was collected using a pretested questionnaire title” Communication and Spousal Contraceptive Use Questionnaire “with a reliability coefficient of 0.812. Data collected were analyzed using percentages and binary logistic regression at the 0.05 alpha level. The findings of the study showed spousal contraceptive use prevalence of 54.5%. The findings of the study also showed that 68.2% of the study population communicated contraceptive use with their spouse. Significantly communication predicted spousal contraceptive use (p<0.05)and as communication increased or improved spousal contraceptive use also increased (β=2.365). It was recommended that Nollywood film producers and short play writers should in conjunction with Information, Education and Communication specialist to write scripts, act dramas and short plays on spousal communication in family planning that will encourage communication and improve spousal contraceptive use.