Khadijeh Asadi Sarvestani; Abdolrasool Hasanifar; Reyhaneh Bagheri
Abstract
Background: Iran is among the countries located on the thalassemia gene belt. Approximately one-fourth of new thalassemia cases in Iran live in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. The employment of appropriate family planning methods in couples carrying thalassemia gene is one of the major preventive strategies. ...
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Background: Iran is among the countries located on the thalassemia gene belt. Approximately one-fourth of new thalassemia cases in Iran live in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. The employment of appropriate family planning methods in couples carrying thalassemia gene is one of the major preventive strategies. Objectives: The present study aimed at examining the determinants of contraceptive use in women of reproductive age who have children with thalassemia major living in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. Methods: The current cross sectional study was conducted on 150 women of reproductive age having children with thalassemia major in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Data were collected from the thalassemia units of three hospitals in Zahedan, Iranshahr, and Chabahar cities from 2017 to 2018. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire consisted of three parts: the cover letter, items on the socioeconomic status and demographic characteristics, as well as questions about contraception use. SPSS version 20 was employed to analyze data. Pearson chi-square, two-sample t-test, and enter and backward logistic regression were employed to analyze the study data. Results: Concerning knowledge about contraceptives, 16.4% of respondents were not familiar with any contraception methods. Additionally, 49.3% of the women said that they did not use any contraception methods and about 8% of users did not benefit from safe methods. Results of chi-square/t-tests indicated significant differences between users and nonusers of contraceptives in terms of ethnicity, women’s age, spousal age difference, couple education level, place of residence, polygamy, the desired number of children, distance from health center, and knowledge about contraceptives. Enter and backward logistic regression results also revealed that spousal age difference (odds ratio (OR) = 0.914, P < 0.001), place of residence (OR = 7.68, P < 0.001), and polygamy (OR = 0.127, P < 0.001) were the main predictors of contraceptive use. Conclusions: Despite Iran’s success in lowering thalassemia births, socioeconomic and cultural factors contribute to the risk of new birth with thalassemia major among couples with minor thalassemia in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
Khadijeh Asadi Sarvestani; Suet Leng Khoo; Nor Malina Malek; Suziana Mat Yasin; Aliyar Ahmadi
Abstract
Background: Desired number of children is one of the main indexes showing the fertility preferences of couples. This issue is currently more important as Iranian policy makers are revising population policies to improve fertility rate.
Objectives: As a result, the main goal of this study was to investigate ...
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Background: Desired number of children is one of the main indexes showing the fertility preferences of couples. This issue is currently more important as Iranian policy makers are revising population policies to improve fertility rate.
Objectives: As a result, the main goal of this study was to investigate factors influencing the number of desired children among married women in the reproductive age. A theoretical framework was constructed based on demographic transition theory, demand-supply theory and diffusion theory.
Methods: This study was a quantitative research and its research technique was survey. The population of the study included all married women at the reproductive age (15-49), who were living in Shiraz County (Shiraz city and surrounding rural areas). Data was collected by interviews with 626 women, who were selected by multi cluster sampling and purposive sampling during year 2014. Data was analyzed by the SPSS (version 22) software.
Results: The findings showed that the desired number of children both in Shiraz city and its surrounding rural areas was exactly below the replacement rate. In addition, findings of this study demonstrated that the desired number of children as a dependent variable is affected by a set of socioeconomic and cultural factors. Results have revealed that the main predictors are couple agreement on the number of children, respondents’ income, son preference, respondents’ authority and ethnicity.
Conclusions: Overall, the variables considered in the research model explained only 32.7% of change in the dependent variable. This means that 67.3% of change in the number of desired children is related to factors that are not included in the research model. Moreover, most of the women in Shiraz County desired to have a small family size and this fact can result in further decline of fertility rates in the future because couples respect their desires in fertility. As a result, it is recommender for policy makers to pay more attention to factors influencing the desired number of children.
