Vasectomy High Schools' Teachers Knowledge and Attitude in Zahedan (2002)

Introduction:  Vasectomy is a simple and highly effective contraceptive method. Comparing with tubectomy, vasectomy is much less likely to have serious complications, failure and costs. The knowledge and attitude play an important role in approving and using vasectomy. This study was designed and conducted in Zahedan High Schools in 2002, to investigate the knowledge and attitude of male and female teachers towards vasectomy.

Met Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Two hundred married teachers were selected by cluster random sampling from twenty Guidance and High Schools and were interviewed. A 29-item questionnaire was developed including demographic, knowledge, attitude, the role of couples regarding family planning, and information sources of contraceptive methods. To analyse the data, descriptive and inferential statistics were used.

Results: The mean age of male and female teachers was 38.3±6.6 and 36.3±5.9 years old respectively. The mean number of their children was 2.6 and 2.8 respectively and also the mean age of their last child was 4.3±5.4 and 6.7±5.2 years old respectively. The findings showed significant difference between the mean scores of knowledge (p<0.0001) and attitude (p<0.0001) of male and female teachers towards vasectomy. Also, correlation test showed no significant difference between the number of teachers’ children and the mean score of their attitude.

Mass media was the main source of information about vasectomy. 88% of male and 91% of female teachers used one of the contraceptive methods. The most common contraceptive method among male teachers was oral contraceptive methods (OCP) by their wives, and among female teachers was withdrawal.

Conclusion: The low awareness and improper attitude among teachers as educated people showed that it is necessary to introduce appropriate educational plan to increase intention and usage of vasectomy.