Attitudes of 110 married men towards family planning.

A study was conducted at the Army Garrison Hospital at Port Dickson in Peninsular Malaysia to determine the attitudes of 110 married men towards family planning. The sample included 80 Malays and 30 Indians who are army personnel attending the hospital either for medical treatment or a check-up. The study instrument was a pre-tested questionnarie administered by 2 male nurses during the November-December 1975 period. 76 of the respondents were between the ages of 20-34 years. 81 of the respondents had been married for a duration of up to 11 years. A breakdown by religion showed that 80 were Muslims, 25 were Hindus, and 5 were Christians, the latter being all Roman Catholics. All of the respondents were able to read and write in at least 1 language, 36 had had schooling varying from standard 1-6, 40 had had schooling varying between Form 1-Form 3, and 34 had had schooling varying from Form 4-to either Malaysian Certificate of Education Level or Higher School Certificate Level. 103 of the respondents approved of family planning, and of these 63 had always felt this way in the past. 6 respondents indicated that they had not thought about family planning in the past. 87 respondents did not approve of the practice of family planning before having the 1st child. Only 7 of 80 Malays in contrast to 16 of 30 Indian respondents -- a significant difference -- approved of family planning before the 1st child. 89 of the 110 respondents had discussed family planning with their wives; 21 respondents had not. 93 respondents disapproved of induced abortion; 17 approved of it. Only 3 of 80 Malay respondents approved induced abortion, but 14 of 30 Indian respondents indicated approval. 98 of the respondents indicated that they were interested in learning more about family planning, and 96 approved of their wife practicing family planning. 56 respondents were practicing family planning, and 20 indicated that they would do so in the future. 6 said they would not practice family planning, and 28 were uncertain as to whether they would practice family planning. It appears that the better educated approve as well as practice family planning more than those with less education.