Norplant: users' perspective in Pakistan

Five hundred and eighteen Norplant acceptors (260 ever-users and 258 current users) were interviewed to assess their perceptions about Norplant. The mean age of the acceptors was 32.6±5.7 years (mean±SD). The mean parity was 4.3 and many of the users (40.2%) were illiterate.The most common reason to choose Norplant was its long duration of action (70.1%) followed by doctor's advice (10.4%) and use by other women (10.1%). Norplant was recommended by family planning workers in 35.3% cases, doctors in 29.2% cases and friends in 17.4% cases. Advertisement did not play any role in the women's choice of Norplant.In 77.3% cases, the decision to use Norplant was a joint decision. Only 15% of the users had fears/anxieties before insertion. Most of these women (44%) were concerned about possible ill-effects of Norplant on their health rather than efficacy. The social acceptance of Norplant was very high (76%) and more than half of the users (52.5%) were satisfied with the method.Among current users, 83.9% wanted to continue Norplant for 5 years. Only 39 users (15.1%) intended to discontinue. The main reason for discontinuation was menstrual disturbance (69.2%), followed by weight gain (12.7%).The study suggests that long duration of effective action and high social acceptance are likely to make Norplant a popular method among Pakistani women.