A community-based study to assess the perceptions and barriers in utilization of no-scalpel vasectomy among married men in a rural area of South India

Abstract

Background: India is the second most populous country in the world after China. In 1992, the government introduced an innovative technique “no-scalpel vasectomy” (NSV), a simpler, safer, and cheaper method aimed at increasing male participation in family planning. Despite the many advantages over female sterilization techniques, NSV still accounts for <1% of all the family planning methods used in India. Hence, this study was conducted among married men in a rural area to assess their knowledge and perceptions regarding NSV and identify various barriers in utilization of NSV. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out for 6 months in the rural field practice area of a tertiary care hospital in Chengalpet district among a total of 170 married men in the age group of 21–60 years. Systematic random sampling was used to identify the study participants, and all the eligible participants were interviewed using a pretested semi-structured schedule. Data entry was done in Microsoft Excel, and analysis was done using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 23. Results: Good knowledge level about NSV was found in only 21 (12.4%) participants. Among the 170 study participants, only 2 (1.2%) had undergone vasectomy. The most common barriers to utilization of NSV were found to be availability of alternative methods of contraception by 136 (80%) participants followed by misconceptions about the procedure of NSV in 134 (78.8%) participants. Conclusion: The study highlights the urgent need to overcome the misconceptions and sociocultural concerns not only regarding NSV but also about the importance of male involvement in family welfare by targeted interventions in order to boost the acceptance of this simpler terminal contraception method.