Predictors of knowledge, attitudes and ever practice family planning among public secondary school teachers in Enugu East Senatorial District, Nigeria.

Background: Family planning deficiencies are responsible for high maternal, newborn, and child mortality in Nigeria, and more than half of all death among adult female is linked to maternal death.

Aim: To ascertain the predictors of good knowledge, positive attitudes, and ever practice family planning among public secondary school teachers in Enugu East Senatorial District, Nigeria.

Subjects And Methods: A cross-sectional research was carried out among public secondary school teachers aged between 18 and 60 years in Enugu East Senatorial District, Nigeria, using probability proportional to size sampling and systematic random sampling from a selection of 1,000 participants. Factors considered included sources of information on family planning, partner involvement, history of family planning methods, and healthcare facilities. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to establish the relationship. An odds ratio of 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated to ascertain the level of significance.

Result: A majority (65.9%) of respondents had a good knowledge of family planning, more than half had positive attitudes (52.7%), and most of them had ever practice family planning (55.0%). Television (AOR = 2.17; 95% CI 1.54-3.06) and social media (AOR = 1.89; 95% CI 1.29-2.78) were effective sources of information to establish significant predictors of good knowledge on family planning. Healthcare (AOR = 0.68; 95% CI 0.51-0.92) and partner discussion (AOR = 3.19; 95% CI 1.94-5.27) were also significant determinants of positive attitudes towards family planning. Cost of obtaining family planning methods (AOR = 0.003; 95% CI 0.001-0.013) and proximity of family planning facilities (AOR = 0.04; 95% CI 0.02-0.10) were notable predictors of ever practice family planning.

Conclusion: The level of knowledge, attitudes, and ever practiced family planning among teachers are moderate and a significant number of predictors were identified. Effective awareness is recommended and making use of television as a channel to increase levels of knowledge will hopefully encourage utilization of family planning among teachers.