title: Relationship characteristics and contraceptive use among couples in urban kenya.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have used couple data to identify associations between individual- and relationship-level characteristics and contraceptive use in urban areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based survey data collected in 2010 in three Kenyan cities-Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu-were used to identify 883 couples. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine associations between relationship-level characteristics (i.e., desire for another child, and communication about desired number of children and family planning use) and contraceptive use among couples currently using contraceptives; additional analyses investigated intention to use contraceptives among couples currently not practicing contraception.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty percent of couples reported current use of contraceptives. In multivariate analyses, couples who desired another child were less likely to use contraceptives than couples who wanted no more children (odds ratio, 0.5). Couples in which both partners reported spousal communication about family planning in the past six months had greater odds of contraceptive use than couples that reported no spousal communication on the subject (3.8). Results from analyses examining associations between relationship-level characteristics and intention to use contraceptives among current nonusers resembled those from analyses of current contraceptive users.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, relationship-level characteristics were associated with current contraceptive use and intention to use contraceptives among couples in urban Kenya. Family planning programs that promote spousal communication about family planning and desired number of children may improve contraceptive use among urban couples.
authors.affiliation: Doctoral Candidate, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, laili.ir@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Laili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Irani
authors.forename: Ilene S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Speizer
authors.forename: Jean-Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fotso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003142:Communication; D003268:Contraception Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population; D014933:Women's Rights; D055815:Young Adult
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