Myths about modern and traditional contraceptives held by women in Minia, Upper Egypt.

BACKGROUND

Misconceptions about modern contraceptives affect their use in low- and middle-income countries.

AIMS

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of myths about modern contraceptives and their association with ever and current use of contraceptives by women in Minia, Upper Egypt.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study of 1212 married Egyptian women aged 18-49 years attending urban and rural health centres in Minia. Data were collected using a structured interview questionnaire and analysed by logistic regression analysis; odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.

RESULTS

Most of the women (88.7%) had one or more misconceptions about contraceptives. The most prevalent misconceptions were that birth control pills cause cancer and intrauterine devices (IUDs) can penetrate the uterus and move to the heart. The current use of birth control pills and IUDs was significantly lower in women with misguided beliefs than those without such beliefs; adjusted OR = 0.59 (95% CI: 0.37-0.90) and adjusted OR = 0.50 (95% CI: 0.34-0.76) respectively. Belief in an increasing number of myths was associated with lower odds of ever use of birth control pills: OR = 0.72 (95% CI: 0.57-0.96), OR = 0.61 (95% CI: 0.43-0.91), OR = 0.48 (95% CI: 0.29-0.69) and OR = 0.43 (95% CI: 0.24-0.63) in women with 1, 2, 3 and ≥ 4 misconceptions versus those with none.

CONCLUSIONS

Myths about contraceptives are common in women in Minia and may have a significant effect on their choice and use of contraceptive method. Reproductive health programmes to refute such misguided beliefs are recommended.