Use of community-based intervention to promote Family Planning use among Pastoralist women in Ethiopia: Cluster randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveWe assessed the effect of a community-based intervention for promoting FP use and intention among pastoralist communities of Afar region state, Ethiopia.MethodsThe design was parallel, cluster randomized controlled trial (CRT) recruiting married women. It had three arms: 1) women’s FP education, 2) male involvement and 3) control with one to one ratio. A total of 33 kebeles were randomized and allocated. Data were collected through an open data kit. Women’s FP education and male involvement in FP service were the interventions. It was implemented with the assistance of a faema leader using a separate group meeting for males and women and disseminates video recorded messages on FP. The intervention was given for a total of 9 months. FP use and intentions were measured. Cluster level summaries considering a cluster effect analysis was performed. The result was presented with adjusted risks and 95% CI. A p-value < 0.05 was used to declare statistically significant.ResultsThere was a positive change in the proportion of married women who use FP in the women’s FP education arm, absolute risk (AR) of 0.13(95% CI,0.08,0.17) and male involvement arm with AR of 0.29 (95% CI, 0.23,0.34) as compared to the control arm. In the control arm, the proportion of FP use was 4.3%, whereas it was 17.5% with women who receive FP education and 34% in the male involvement arm. Furthermore, the proportion of married women who had high intention to use FP was high in arms of women’s FP education and male involvement with AR = 3.4(95% CI: 2.48,4.91) and AR = 2.1 (95% CI: 1.5,2.95), respectively as compared with the control arm.ConclusionThe community-based intervention (male involvement and women’s education about FP use) brings a significant change in increasing FP users and promotes the intention to use FP.