Utilization of Family Planning Methods and Associated Factors Among Reproductive-Age Women with Disability in Arba Minch Town, Southern Ethiopia.

Introduction: Globally in 2019, there were 1.9 billion reproductive-age women. Around 922 million of them were using either modern or traditional methods of family planning. Women with disabilities comprise 10% of worldwide women and three-quarters of them reside in low- and middle-income countries.

Objective: The purpose of this study was designed to assess the magnitude and associated factors for family planning methods use among reproductive-age women with disabilities in Arba Minch town, southern Ethiopia.

Patients and methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 418 reproductive-age women with disabilities. Data were collected with eight women who had completed grade 12 and two of them were proficient in sign language. The data were entered into Epi-info™ version-7 software and exported into SPSS version 20 for analysis. A statistically significant variable in the final model was declared by adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 95% confidence interval (CI) and p-value <0.05.

Results: The magnitude of family planning utilization among reproductive-age women with disabilities was 33.7%. Factors significantly associated with family planning use were being employed (AOR: 2.2, CI: 1.77-4.15), having positive attitudes (AOR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.21-3.87) and marital status (AOR: 3.9, 95% CI: 2.31-6.63).

Conclusion: The magnitude of family planning use among reproductive women with disabilities was low. Attitude, marital status, and being employed were significantly associated factors with family planning use. Therefore, the governmental and non-governmental organizations should work to change their attitude and creating job opportunities.