Fertility preferences, contraceptive behaviors and unmet needs: a gap between urban and suburban parts of a city.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the differences in unwanted fertility in different parts of a city.


METHODS
Data were obtained from the 1999 Manisa Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) in Turkey. We collected information from a representative sample of 1728 ever-married women aged 15-49 years on fertility, fertility preferences, unmet need for family planning, contraceptive discontinuation, and abortion. Data were analyzed using SPSS 10.0 for Windows.


RESULTS
Of the persons studied, 1238 (71.6%) were living in urban settlements and 490 (28.4%) in suburban (gecekondu) settlements. The total fertility rate is higher among gecekondu women (2.42) than among urban women (2.14) although gecekondu women have a lower wanted fertility rate (1.54) than urban women (1.77). Married women in the urban area were currently using a contraceptive method more frequently (75.6%) than those living in the gecekondu area (61.7%) (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.9-3.2; p < 0.001). The unmet need percentage in gecekondu women (17.7%) is higher than in urban women (8.3%; p < 0.001). The induced abortion rate is higher in urban women (14.8 per 1000 pregnancies) than in gecekondu women (7.1 per 1000 pregnancies; OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.4-3.1; p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
There are inequalities in the achievement of fertility preferences and in accessibility to family planning services between urban and suburban parts of the city.
Dinç
Gönül
G
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey. gonul.dinc@bayar.edu.tr
Eser
Erhan
E
Cihan
Umit Atman
UA
Ay
Semra
S
Pala
Tumer
T
Ergör
Gül
G
Ozcan
Cemil
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D003268:Contraception Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D019036:Suburban Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution