Measuring Women's Covert Use of Modern Contraception in Cross‐Sectional Surveys

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10797574
AutoresIfta Choiriyyah (0009-0003-9142-2523, autor correspondente), Stan Becker (0000-0002-3251-9152)
Ano2018
Volume49
Fascículo2
Páginas143-157
Data de publicação2018-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoStudies in Family Planning (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0039-3665 • E-ISSN: 1728-4465
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/sifp.12053
PMID29845621
OpenAlexW2807423343
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas16
Referências citadas23

A proportion of women in couples use contraception without their partners’ knowledge. There are two principal ways to measure this covert use in cross‐sectional surveys like the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). First is a direct question, “Does your husband/partner know that you are using a method of family planning?” Second is an indirect method: the reports of both partners to the question on contraceptive use are matched, and if the woman reports a modern contraceptive method and the male partner reports nonuse, her use is considered covert. For 21 DHS surveys for which both estimates could be made, there are large discrepancies between the two. We found that a proxy variable—responses to the question, “Would you say that using contraception is mainly your decision, mainly your husband's/partner's decision, or did you both decide together?”—has high sensitivity and specificity for classifying those in the open category for both methods and those in the covert category for both methods. Recommendations are that the direct question be reinstated in the DHS and that the indirect method not be used by itself but in conjunction with the decision‐making variable

Covert · Cross-sectional study · Environmental health · Family planning · Population · Proxy (statistics · Research methodology · Sociology · Statistics · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Mathematics · Medicine · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Contraception