Determinants of readiness to undergo vasectomy, a family planning method for men in Busia county, Kenya

Abstract

Kenya is among the sub-Saharan African countries with very high Total Fertility Rates (TFR), currently at 4.6 per woman. The Total Population is 38.6 million with an annual population growth rate of 2.8%. The population is projected to hit the 85 million mark by the year 2050. The surest way to save ourselves is to maintain human Population at” Carrying Capacity” and living in harmony with our environment through effective voluntary family planning Programmes. This study investigated the factors that determine the readiness to undergo vasectomy as a method of family planning among men whose families are complete in Matayos location, Busia County. The study explored the socioeconomic factors, vasectomy administration process and resource based factors that determine men’s readiness to undertake vasectomy, a male family planning method. The population in this study is 1024 male heads of households in Matayos Location, Busia County. With a margin error of 5%, confidence level of 95% and a response distribution of 50% the study anticipated to interview a sample of 279 Busia residents. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from the field using a descriptive cross sectional survey. The questionnaire was pretested by conducting a pilot test on a sample of 10 respondents from Nambale location which has a similar geographical location as Matayos location. The research instruments yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.81. Data analysis was done by category into the demographics and the other independent variables. Analysis was carried out in the SPSS version 19 based on descriptive and inferential statistics using chi square and presented in the form of frequency tables. The study found that the socio economic factors that affected men’s readiness to undergo vasectomy were the number of years in marriage, number of children, and difference between the number of boys and girls in the family, age of the youngest child, planning of the births and whether the last child was planned or not. In the vasectomy administration factors, the study established that use of needles affected men’s readiness to take up vasectomy, recovery period from the surgical process and the type of family planning use by spouse. In the resources that affected adoption of vasectomy, the study found that availability of qualified vasectomists in the local health facilities and provision of wage compensation during the process of recovery increased the chances of adoption of vasectomy. The study recommends that there needs to be an improved campaign to remove stigma towards vasectomy. This should be done by proper campaign in social centers such as schools, churches and market places. This could also be done by involving local NGOs and community leadership. The study also recommends that the government needs to be at the forefront of the campaign to involve people in taking up vasectomy. The government could also provide logistic support to the process. The study suggests that in future a similar research needs to be done and involve the views of the vasectomists to make it more inclusive. Secondly, the study suggests that in future a follow up study needs to be done to assess whether adoption of the process has improved or not. Lastly the study also suggests that a similar study needs to be done in other areas more so in areas of urban setting so as to compare with the findings of this study