Evaluation of men's participation in group training of their wives in family planning programs

BACKGROUND Population growth is still a global concern. In spite of the decrease in population growth and conception rate, Iran and the world population will grow in coming years. Participation of men in contraception interventions to control population growth is of great importance. METHODS This is a quasi-experimental study, in which the authors provided group training of contraceptive methods to 53 women, and then evaluated the effect of training on the dependent variable of husbands' participation in family planning. The data was gathered using a questionnaire and a checklist, and then was analyzed using SPSS software, by paired t-test. RESULTS The results indicated that the mean score of knowledge level of the case group members and their husbands changed significantly after the training program (p < 0.001). Also, it was found that 51% of the participants and their husbands used contraceptive methods after the training program. CONCLUSIONS Considering the results, providing group training for couples to increase the participation rate of men in family planning programs is recommended.