Men's knowledge, attitude and practices of family planning in north Gondar

This community-based cross-sectional study assessed the perceptions and practices of 832 men on family planning in North Gondar, Ethiopia, in June 1995. Sixty one percent of men knew at least one method of family planning (FP) and 64.3% of them approved the use of FP. Forty one percent of these said that only women should use contraception. Involvement of couples on the choice of family planning methods and desired number of children in the family was approved by 58.3% of men. Half of the men did not support nulliparous women of any age using contraception. The mean +/- SD desired life-time children was 6.7 +/- 3.5. Only 47.2% of the study participants had heard about condoms. Misconceptions and negative attitudes towards condoms prevailed among men. Only 23.9% of married men have discussed family planning with their wives. Overall, 10.6% of men have ever used condoms in the past, and 6.1% are currently using condoms. Only 39.3% of current non-users of FP are planning to use FP in the future. Educational status was positively associated with higher awareness, favourable attitude and practice of family planning (p < 0.00001).