Asymmetry in contraceptive information at two sites in Burkina FasoAJOG Global Reports at a Glance
Background: Family planning programs are foundationally important to public health, but like any medical intervention, contraception has drawbacks in addition to its benefits. Knowledge of these drawbacks in addition to benefits is essential for informed choice. Despite a general consensus among fam...
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Elsevier
2024-11-01
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| Series: | AJOG Global Reports |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666577824000704 |
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| author | Leigh Senderowicz, ScD Brooke W. Bullington, BA Nathalie Sawadogo, PhD Katherine Tumlinson, PhD |
| author_facet | Leigh Senderowicz, ScD Brooke W. Bullington, BA Nathalie Sawadogo, PhD Katherine Tumlinson, PhD |
| author_sort | Leigh Senderowicz, ScD |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Family planning programs are foundationally important to public health, but like any medical intervention, contraception has drawbacks in addition to its benefits. Knowledge of these drawbacks in addition to benefits is essential for informed choice. Despite a general consensus among family planning researchers and providers that contraceptive counseling should be unbiased, little quantitative research has assessed the extent of bias in contraceptive counseling, and in people's contraceptive knowledge more broadly. Objective: To understand the extent to which women report being told more about the advantages of contraception than the disadvantages—a concept we call “asymmetry” in contraceptive counseling, at two research sites in Burkina Faso. Methods: We use data from a cross-sectional population-based survey of 3,929 women residing in the catchment areas of the Ouagadougou (urban) and the Nouna (rural) Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems in Burkina Faso. We use descriptive statistics to explore asymmetry in knowledge of the benefits/advantages and risks/disadvantages of contraceptive use overall, as well as method-specific asymmetry among current method users regarding their counseling experience. Findings: Results show substantial asymmetry in knowledge of advantages/benefits of contraception compared to disadvantages/risks. 86% of respondents said they could name any advantage of family planning, while half of that proportion (43%) could name any disadvantage. We find a similarly stark asymmetry in method-specific results among contraceptive users, especially for hormonal/biomedical methods. We also find substantial variation between research sites, with urban respondents much less likely to self-report complete family planning knowledge than their rural counterparts. Conclusion: Our results suggest that family planning messaging in Burkina Faso may place an emphasis on the advantages without a commensurate focus on disadvantages. Family planning programs worldwide must ensure that people can make informed choices based on balanced, accurate information about both the benefits and the disadvantages of contraception. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-df72013de54e401784b9fa8fe2bf8d17 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2666-5778 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AJOG Global Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-df72013de54e401784b9fa8fe2bf8d172025-08-20T02:38:03ZengElsevierAJOG Global Reports2666-57782024-11-014410037610.1016/j.xagr.2024.100376Asymmetry in contraceptive information at two sites in Burkina FasoAJOG Global Reports at a GlanceLeigh Senderowicz, ScD0Brooke W. Bullington, BA1Nathalie Sawadogo, PhD2Katherine Tumlinson, PhD3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Gender and Women's Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI (Senderowicz); Corresponding author: Leigh Senderowicz, ScD.Department of Epidemiology, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Health, Chapel Hill, NC (Bullington)Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population, Université Joseph KI-ZERBO, Burkina Faso, Centre, OU (Sawadogo)Department of Health Policy and Management, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Health, Chapel Hill, NC (Tumlinson)Background: Family planning programs are foundationally important to public health, but like any medical intervention, contraception has drawbacks in addition to its benefits. Knowledge of these drawbacks in addition to benefits is essential for informed choice. Despite a general consensus among family planning researchers and providers that contraceptive counseling should be unbiased, little quantitative research has assessed the extent of bias in contraceptive counseling, and in people's contraceptive knowledge more broadly. Objective: To understand the extent to which women report being told more about the advantages of contraception than the disadvantages—a concept we call “asymmetry” in contraceptive counseling, at two research sites in Burkina Faso. Methods: We use data from a cross-sectional population-based survey of 3,929 women residing in the catchment areas of the Ouagadougou (urban) and the Nouna (rural) Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems in Burkina Faso. We use descriptive statistics to explore asymmetry in knowledge of the benefits/advantages and risks/disadvantages of contraceptive use overall, as well as method-specific asymmetry among current method users regarding their counseling experience. Findings: Results show substantial asymmetry in knowledge of advantages/benefits of contraception compared to disadvantages/risks. 86% of respondents said they could name any advantage of family planning, while half of that proportion (43%) could name any disadvantage. We find a similarly stark asymmetry in method-specific results among contraceptive users, especially for hormonal/biomedical methods. We also find substantial variation between research sites, with urban respondents much less likely to self-report complete family planning knowledge than their rural counterparts. Conclusion: Our results suggest that family planning messaging in Burkina Faso may place an emphasis on the advantages without a commensurate focus on disadvantages. Family planning programs worldwide must ensure that people can make informed choices based on balanced, accurate information about both the benefits and the disadvantages of contraception.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666577824000704Burkina Fasocounselingfamily planningglobal healthinformed choiceprovider bias |
| spellingShingle | Leigh Senderowicz, ScD Brooke W. Bullington, BA Nathalie Sawadogo, PhD Katherine Tumlinson, PhD Asymmetry in contraceptive information at two sites in Burkina FasoAJOG Global Reports at a Glance AJOG Global Reports Burkina Faso counseling family planning global health informed choice provider bias |
| title | Asymmetry in contraceptive information at two sites in Burkina FasoAJOG Global Reports at a Glance |
| title_full | Asymmetry in contraceptive information at two sites in Burkina FasoAJOG Global Reports at a Glance |
| title_fullStr | Asymmetry in contraceptive information at two sites in Burkina FasoAJOG Global Reports at a Glance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Asymmetry in contraceptive information at two sites in Burkina FasoAJOG Global Reports at a Glance |
| title_short | Asymmetry in contraceptive information at two sites in Burkina FasoAJOG Global Reports at a Glance |
| title_sort | asymmetry in contraceptive information at two sites in burkina fasoajog global reports at a glance |
| topic | Burkina Faso counseling family planning global health informed choice provider bias |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666577824000704 |
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