La situación económica: Social determinants of contraceptive use in rural Honduras

Abstract

Contraceptive use is an important determinant of unintended pregnancy, but little is known about the social and structural factors that determine women's contraceptive use in rural Honduras. In this study, we aim to characterise the individual and social determinants of contraceptive use among women in rural Honduras. In 2011 and 2012, we conducted 14 interviews and 2 focus groups with women 18 years and older. In our analysis, we created a family-planning narrative for each participant and coded transcripts around key emergent themes related to these determinants. We found that social determinants – including poverty, gender dynamics and availability of family-planning methods – had a strong influence on contraceptive use among women in our sample. Study participants stated that they were faced with a difficult economic situation compounded by rising prices of basic goods and diminishing job opportunities. Paradoxically, at the same time that the economic situation led women to seek contraception, it also contributed to the structural barriers that limited their ability to obtain their method of choice and maintain continuous contraceptive use. Our findings suggest the need for multi-level efforts to create an enabling and sustainable environment for family planning among women in rural Honduras.

Keywords:

• contraception
• reproductive health
• qualitative methods
• Honduras
• social determinants

Acknowledgements

We thank our community partners in Honduras and our research participants for supporting this study. We are also grateful to Erin Escobar, Olivia Myrick, Robin Dayton, Laura Hinson and Amy Marietta for their input and collaboration in the research process. We thank Douglas Morgan, MD, MPH (UNC and Vanderbilt) for his careful review of the paper and his thoughtful suggestions.

Funding

This work was made possible with support from the Honduran Health Alliance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We are also grateful to the Carolina Population Center [R24 HD050924] for general support.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This work was made possible with support from the Honduran Health Alliance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We are also grateful to the Carolina Population Center [R24 HD050924] for general support.