08 Study of unmet need.pmd

1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology; 2Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Omdurman Islamic University, Omdurman, Sudan (Correspondence to T. Umbeli: umbelli1@hotmail,com). ABSTRACT In this descriptive study, the main objective was to determine the magnitude of unmet need for family planning among women of child-bearing age (15–49 years) in Dar Assalam. Using a detailed questionnaire, we studied 530 ever-married women selected randomly through a multistage sampling technique. Current use of contraception was 21.3%. Using the Westoff model, unmet need was 30.7%. Contraceptive pills were the most commonly used method, 92%. Knowledge on contraception was 61.3% for a single method and 23.4% ≥ 2 methods. Knowledge was obtained mainly from relatives, 48.6%.