Identifying determinants of Mozambican men’s willingness to use a male contraceptive pill

Abstract

Objective: Given the possibility of a male contraceptive pill in the near future, understanding men’s attitudes towards this contraceptive method is crucial, especially in high-risk populations with limited access to education. This research was conducted to identify the determinants of Mozambican men’s willingness to use a contraceptive pill when it is made available.

Methods: A sample of 412 Mozambican men was presented with 36 vignettes comprising four within-subject factors (cost of pills, pill efficacy, side effects and context). Each vignette presented a scenario in which a man is asked by his partner to use the contraceptive pill, and participants indicated their own willingness to use the pill under each circumstance.

Results: Cluster analysis revealed that participants took one of four different positions regarding their willingness to use a contraceptive pill: never (11%); depends on side effects alone (25%); depends on side effects and costs (11%); depends on side effects and context (46%). These positions were associated with participants’ sociodemographic characteristics.

Conclusion: Among the Mozambican men in this study, a minority appeared to believe that the responsibility for contraception should be shared between sexual partners. Men’s willingness to use a contraceptive pill was, however, more pronounced in the case of serious medical risk to their partner. Overall, only about one-fifth of participants were either reluctant or unwilling to consider using a male contraceptive pill.

摘要

目的：鉴于在不久的将来有可能研制出男性避孕药, 了解男性对这种避孕方法的态度是至关重要的, 特别是在受教育机会有限的高危人群中。这项研究的目的是确定莫桑比克男子在有机会获得避孕药时是否愿意使用的决定因素。

方法：在412名莫桑比克男子的样本中, 有36个小插曲, 包括4个受试者因素（药物成本、药物疗效、副作用和环境因素）。每一个小插曲都呈现了一个场景, 在这个场景中, 一个男人被他的伴侣要求使用避孕药, 参与者表示他们自己愿意在每一种情况下使用避孕药。

结果：聚类分析显示, 参与者对他们是否愿意使用避孕药的态度有四种不同的态度：从不（11%）；仅取决于副作用（25%）；取决于副作用和成本（11%）；取决于副作用和环境（46%）。这些职位与参与者的社会人口特征有关。

结论：在这项参与研究的莫桑比克男性中, 少数人似乎认为避孕的责任应该在性伴侣之间分担。然而, 男性使用避孕药的意愿在伴侣面临严重医疗风险的情况下更为明显。总体而言, 只有约五分之一的参与者不愿意或不愿意考虑使用男性避孕药。

Keywords:

• African context
• contraception
• male contraceptive pill

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to all the research assistants who assisted in this study. We are also grateful to the Mozambican universities who supported the execution of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interests was reported by the authors.