| บทคัดย่อ(English) |
From the middle of 20(th) century, fertility and contraceptive prevalence have markedly changed in the world. For Lao PDR, the total fertility rate(TFR) began to decline and the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) started to increase continuously after the implementation of the birth spacing program in 1995. However, it was found that the TFR of Lao PDR is still the highest and CPR is still apt the lowest level in Southeast Asia. Likewise, the desired family size of Laotian women is very high. This study was conducted to explore these incidences. Research question for the study were: (1) What are the factors affecting the desired number of children; (2) What are the factors affecting contraceptive use; and (3) Does the desire for additional children affect contraceptive use. Thus, there are two objectives: (1) to investigate the factors affecting the desired number of children, (2) to explore the factors affecting contraceptive use. The unit of analysis was the married women of reproductive age in Lao PDR. The data used for this study is from the Lao Reproductive Health Survey 2000, conducted by .the State Planning Committee of Lao PDR. The total sample of this study was 8546 married women who were not pregnant during the interview. The result of Univariate and Bivariate analysis indicates that 33.2 percent of women in the sample were using contraception, and the desired number of children among the Laotian women seems to be high and higher than the actual family size. The finding from multiple regression analysis reveals that the desired number of children is determined by the womens education, number of living children, awareness of contraceptive methods, husbands occupation, accessibility to family planning services and exposure to radio and television programs. Further, the logistic regression analysis showed that age of women, womens education, womens occupation, number of living children, inter-spousal communication, awareness of contraceptives methods, husbands education, accessibility to family planning services, exposure to television programs and desired number of children have a statically significant effect on contraceptive use. The findings of the study suggested that the level of education of couples should be increased. It is necessary to extend the family planning services center throughout the country, and to provide information about contraceptive methods. |
