Family planning knowledge, attitude and practice amongst males in a Nigerian urban population

A study to investigate men's knowledge, attitude and practice of family planning was carried out in Enugu, South-eastern Nigeria between September and December 1996. A total of 380 adult working males were studied. A high proportion of the respondents had knowledge of and possessed positive attitude to family planning, even though a lesser proportion actually used family planning methods. Ninety per cent of the respondents accepted the decision that the number of children in the family should be made by the couple. While over 32 per cent of the men believed that the wife alone should use family planning methods, only 10 per cent thought it was the husband's role to use family planning methods. There is need for the present integrated national MCH/family planning programmes to be adapted for use by men.