(SDAS) Examining the racial disparities of non-use of contraception and family planning services by males in the US.
Grantee: Morgan State University
Principal Investigator: Mian Hossain
Project Number: R40MC25691
Project Date: 02/01/2013
Age group(s)
- Young Adulthood (19-25 years)
Abstract
The Healthy People 2020 goal with respect to family planning (FP) is to improve pregnancy planning and spacing, and prevent unintended pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy rates among women vary dramatically by race. Black and Hispanic women had higher rates of unintended pregnancy and, as a result, higher rates of unintended birth and abortion than white women. The direct medical costs associated with unintended pregnancies in 2002 were $5 billion, or an average of $1,609 for each unintended pregnancy. Men are often the dominant decision makers in contraceptive use, especially among vulnerable minority populations, and furthermore, the contraceptive methods most commonly used at sexual initiation (condoms and/or withdrawal) are men-controlled methods. Lack of attention to men's sexual and reproductive health needs - especially among vulnerable minority populations - is increasingly recognized as a "silent crisis." It is reported that 14.9% of sexually active males aged 15 to 44 received FP services in the past 12 months. The central aims of this secondary data analysis proposal are: (a) to examine the racial disparities in patterns and correlates of unmet contraceptive need among males based upon their sexual behaviors and fertility preference, (b) to identify barriers to the utilization of FP services, specifically to examine whether programmatic factors are the main barriers to seeking services or whether other individual, social, economic and familial factors are equally or even more important, and to identify protective factors that moderate the risk factors and overcome the odds of unmet contraceptive needs. The study proposes to analyze data on the 10,403 male respondents in the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) 2006-2010. After performing multivariate analyses using NSFG data, we expect to increase our understanding of racial disparities of non-use of contraception among men at risk of unintended pregnancy in the United States. In turn, these insights should advance our understanding of fertility differentials and the challenge of preventing unintended births to men in the United States. Findings from the study have important implications for identifying racial disparities among males in unintended pregnancy, barriers to FP service utilization and contraceptive use, which will help policy makers in developing culturally-appropriate, acceptable, high quality family planning services that meet the needs of male clientele. This study addresses the Maternal and Child Health Bureau's Strategic Research Issue # II, which is, MCH services and systems of care efforts to eliminate health disparities and barriers to health care access for MCH populations. These health disparities and barriers to health care access may include racial/ethnic, cultural, linguistic, gender, developmental, geographic, immigrant, underserved, economic considerations, etc.<< Previous Next >>