Myths and Fallacies about Male Contraceptive Methods: A Qualitative Study amongst Married Youth in Slums of Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan presently has one of the largest cohorts of young people in its history, with around 36 million people between the ages of 15 and 24 years. One of the main reasons for high population growth in Pakistan is almost stagnant contraceptive prevalence rate of 30% nationally and 17.4% amongst youth. The study was conducted to explore the perceptions regarding myths and fallacies related to male contraceptive methods among married youth aged 18-24 year in Karachi, Pakistan. Qualitative exploratory study design was adopted and a total of eight Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted. Study was conducted in two Union Councils of Korangi Town in the squatter settlement of Karachi, Pakistan from July to September 2010. Thematic analysis was done manually. General, physical, sexual, psychological, socio-cultural and religious were the common categories which lead to myths and fallacies related to condoms use and vasectomy among the married youth. The foremost myth amongst male and female youth was that use of both condoms and vasectomy cause impotence in males. Additionally, condoms were thought to cause infections, backache and headache in males. Some youth of the area think that vasectomy is meant for prisoners only. In conclusion our findings suggest that the potential reasons behind low use of male contraceptive methods among youth of squatter settlement of Karachi were myths and fallacies about male contraceptive methods. There are some important policy implications like counseling of the couple through peers and well trained family planning service providers to address these myths and misconceptions from the minds of youth.

Erkeklere Yönelik Modern Kontraseptif Yöntemlerin Çiftlerin Cinsel Doyumu Üzerine Etkisi: Sistematik Derleme

“…Sonraki benzer çalışmanın ise 26 yıl sonra literatüre kazandırılmıştır. Kontraseptif yöntemlere ilişkin mitlerin çiftlerin cinsel doyumunu olumsuz etkilediği düşünüldüğünde, 13,[16][17][18][19] bu alandaki çalışma yılları aralığının fazla olması, sayısının sınırlı olması bu sistematik derlemenin dikkat çeken bulgularındandır.…”

“…8 Literatürde, erkeklerin kullandığı kontraseptif yöntemlere ilişkin mitlerin cinsel sağlık üzerine olumsuz etkiye sahip olduğu ortaya koyulmuştur. 13,[16][17][18] Mitler, özellikle kondom kullanımında sınırlılıklara neden olmaktadır. 18 Yapılan çalışmalarda erkeklerin kondom kullanımına ilişkin en yaygın kaygılarının, cinsel memnuniyetin azalması, 17,19 ereksiyon bozukluğu, enfeksiyon, 13,16,18 bel ağrısı, baş ağrısı, eklem ağrısı 18 ve baş dönmesi 13,16 olduğu saptanmıştır.…”

“…Bazı gençler, vazektomiyi bir ceza yöntemi olarak görmekte ve yalnızca mahkumlara uygulanması gerektiğine, fiziksel ve mental sağlıkta bozulmaya, baş ağrısına, kilo artışına, güçsüzlüğe ve ereksiyon bozukluğuna yol açtığına inanmaktadırlar. 18 Ülkemizde bazı ürologların da vazektomiye karşı olumsuz tutumları olduğu bilinmektedir. 20 Cinsel doyum düzeyi eşler arasındaki ilişkiyi ve evlilik doyumunu etkilemektedir.…”

Misconceptions about family planning of women in Turkey

“…The research studies done in Pakistan and Delhi also reported worries that vasectomy would cause impotency and weakness (Singh et al, 2003;Nishtar et al, 2012). In Shih et al's the women and men from all racial/ethnic groups reported a fear of longterm effects of vasectomy on sexual function.…”

“…In our study, using condoms would cause a decrease in sexual performance and pain was identified as the primary concern. In a qualitative study done in Pakistan with married couples between the ages of 18 to 24, the participants thought that using condoms would cause sexual reluctance, particularly low back pain and infection (Nishtar, Sami, Faruqi, Khowaja, & Ul-Hasnain, 2012).…”