Use of Modern Contraceptives by Women with Disabilities in Rajasthan, India: An Analysis of the Annual Health Survey

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze associations between disability and contraceptive use among married women in Rajasthan, India.

Methods: The study uses secondary analysis of the Rajasthan dataset of the 2010-2011 Annual Heath Survey. This survey included both disability and reproductive health data. The sample includes 238,240 women aged 15-49 years. Logistic regression is used to measure associations between disability status and use of modern contraceptives and female sterilization in the sample. Stratified analyses by age and residence were also conducted.

Results: The prevalence of disability among women of reproductive age was 0.9%. Modern contraceptive use was reported by 73.0% of the sample, and female sterilization by 57.7% of the sample. Women with disabilities (WWD) were less likely to report using a modern contraceptive (OR 0.87, 95% CI: 0.78, 0.95). Among modern method users, WWD were not significantly more likely to be using sterilization than another modern method; however, there were significantly higher odds of sterilization versus another modern method for urban WWD (OR 1.57, 95% CI: 1.11, 2.22).

Conclusions: In this study, disability was associated with contraceptive use. Additional research is needed to determine if there is a causal relationship between disability and contraceptive use. Family planning providers should be trained to provide care to WWD and the Government of India should ensure the National Family Planning Programme is accessible to people with disabilities.