title: Unmet need for contraception among married women in an urban area of Puducherry, India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Unmet need for contraception remains a national problem. The study was conducted in an urban area of Puducherry, India, among the eligible couples to assess the unmet need for contraception and to determine the awareness and pattern of use of contraceptives along with the socio-demographic factors associated with the unmet needs for contraception.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study included eligible couples with married women in age group of 15-45 yr as the study population (n=267). Probability proportional to size sampling followed by systematic random sampling was used. A pre-tested questionnaire was administered to collect data from the respondents. Double data entry and validation of data was done.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Unmet need for contraception was 27.3 per cent (95% CI: 22.3-33); unmet need for spacing and limiting was 4.9 and 22.5 per cent, respectively. Among those with unmet need (n=73), 50 per cent reported client related factors (lack of knowledge, shyness, etc.); and 37 per cent reported contraception related factors (availability, accessibility, affordability, side effects) as a cause for unmet need.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed a high unmet need for contraception in the study area indicating towards a necessity to address user perspective to meet the contraception needs.
authors: Bahiya
authors: B
authors: Sulthana
authors: Department of Community Medicine, IGMCRI, Puducherry; The International Union Against Tuberculosis & Lung Disease, South East Asia Office, New Delhi 110 016, India.
authors: Hemant Deepak
authors: HD
authors: Shewade
authors: Bhuvaneswary
authors: B
authors: Sunderamurthy
authors: Keerthana
authors: K
authors: Manoharan
authors: Manimozhi
authors: M
authors: Subramanian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003267:Contraception; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D014505:Urban Population