{"id":{"repo_id":"soton","oai_identifier":"oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:166579"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/soton/oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:166579","repository":{"repo_id":"soton","name":"University of Southampton","base_url":"https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Three papers on side effects and modern contraceptive use among women in Ghana","abstract":"This thesis investigates the issue of side effects and how they may act as a barrier to<br/>the use of modern contraceptive methods among women in Ghana. Three papers are<br/>presented each addressing the issue using different sources of data and different<br/>methodologies. The disparate nature of the data sources and techniques used<br/>provides each paper with its own perspective on the research question and each<br/>paper gives a unique insight into the topic.<br/><br/>The aim of the first paper is to use a qualitative focus group methodology to explore<br/>in-depth the way individuals perceive information about family planning. The study<br/>seeks to better define what is meant by the term fear of side effect in this particular<br/>social context and to determine on what information and from what sources is this<br/>fear constructed. Overall the findings of this study show that fear of side effects does<br/>act as a significant barrier to the use of temporary methods and these fears result<br/>mainly from a large amount of negative information regarding side effects being<br/>passed through the social network. However the events being recounted cannot be<br/>dismissed as myth or rumour as they are most often based in real experiences.<br/><br/>The second paper uses monthly data on contraceptive use and the experience of side<br/>effects from the calendar section of a longitudinal survey of women in Southern<br/>Ghana. Using life tables and a multi-level logistic discrete-time hazards model this<br/>study analyses contraceptive discontinuation and how it relates to the concurrent<br/>self-reported experience of side effects. The results show that experiencing side<br/>effects is associated with a higher probability of discontinuation of the method and<br/>that counselling from health workers is extremely important in minimizing<br/>discontinuation rates.<br/><br/>The third paper uses a sub-sample of women who are not current contraceptive<br/>users from the 2003 GDHS. The study uses multiple logistic regression to determine<br/>the association between exposure to family planning information, through mass<br/>media and interpersonal channels, and the probability that a respondent will cite fear<br/>of side effects as their main reason for not intending to use a contraceptive method in<br/>the future. The results show that the only family planning communication variable<br/>which does have a significant effect is receiving a message from a health worker<br/>which increases the odds of fear of side effects being the main reason for not<br/>intending to use a method in the future. Overall the socio-economic characteristics of<br/>those not intending to use a method in the future due to a fear of side effects is more<br/>similar to current users than to those who are not intending to use in the future for<br/>other reasons.","abstract_html":"This thesis investigates the issue of side effects and how they may act as a barrier to&lt;br/&gt;the use of modern contraceptive methods among women in Ghana. Three papers are&lt;br/&gt;presented each addressing the issue using different sources of data and different&lt;br/&gt;methodologies. The disparate nature of the data sources and techniques used&lt;br/&gt;provides each paper with its own perspective on the research question and each&lt;br/&gt;paper gives a unique insight into the topic.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;The aim of the first paper is to use a qualitative focus group methodology to explore&lt;br/&gt;in-depth the way individuals perceive information about family planning. The study&lt;br/&gt;seeks to better define what is meant by the term fear of side effect in this particular&lt;br/&gt;social context and to determine on what information and from what sources is this&lt;br/&gt;fear constructed. Overall the findings of this study show that fear of side effects does&lt;br/&gt;act as a significant barrier to the use of temporary methods and these fears result&lt;br/&gt;mainly from a large amount of negative information regarding side effects being&lt;br/&gt;passed through the social network. However the events being recounted cannot be&lt;br/&gt;dismissed as myth or rumour as they are most often based in real experiences.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;The second paper uses monthly data on contraceptive use and the experience of side&lt;br/&gt;effects from the calendar section of a longitudinal survey of women in Southern&lt;br/&gt;Ghana. Using life tables and a multi-level logistic discrete-time hazards model this&lt;br/&gt;study analyses contraceptive discontinuation and how it relates to the concurrent&lt;br/&gt;self-reported experience of side effects. The results show that experiencing side&lt;br/&gt;effects is associated with a higher probability of discontinuation of the method and&lt;br/&gt;that counselling from health workers is extremely important in minimizing&lt;br/&gt;discontinuation rates.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;The third paper uses a sub-sample of women who are not current contraceptive&lt;br/&gt;users from the 2003 GDHS. The study uses multiple logistic regression to determine&lt;br/&gt;the association between exposure to family planning information, through mass&lt;br/&gt;media and interpersonal channels, and the probability that a respondent will cite fear&lt;br/&gt;of side effects as their main reason for not intending to use a contraceptive method in&lt;br/&gt;the future. The results show that the only family planning communication variable&lt;br/&gt;which does have a significant effect is receiving a message from a health worker&lt;br/&gt;which increases the odds of fear of side effects being the main reason for not&lt;br/&gt;intending to use a method in the future. Overall the socio-economic characteristics of&lt;br/&gt;those not intending to use a method in the future due to a fear of side effects is more&lt;br/&gt;similar to current users than to those who are not intending to use in the future for&lt;br/&gt;other reasons.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bailey, Claire Elizabeth"],"institution":"University of Southampton","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Matthews, Zoe"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-12","date_published":"2009-12","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:36:17Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Matthews, Zoe"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bailey, Claire Elizabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2009-12"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-12"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Social Statistics (pre 2011 reorg)","School of Social Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Southampton"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/166579/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/166579/1/Thesis_CEB_Final.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis investigates the issue of side effects and how they may act as a barrier to<br/>the use of modern contraceptive methods among women in Ghana. Three papers are<br/>presented each addressing the issue using different sources of data and different<br/>methodologies. The disparate nature of the data sources and techniques used<br/>provides each paper with its own perspective on the research question and each<br/>paper gives a unique insight into the topic.<br/><br/>The aim of the first paper is to use a qualitative focus group methodology to explore<br/>in-depth the way individuals perceive information about family planning. The study<br/>seeks to better define what is meant by the term fear of side effect in this particular<br/>social context and to determine on what information and from what sources is this<br/>fear constructed. Overall the findings of this study show that fear of side effects does<br/>act as a significant barrier to the use of temporary methods and these fears result<br/>mainly from a large amount of negative information regarding side effects being<br/>passed through the social network. However the events being recounted cannot be<br/>dismissed as myth or rumour as they are most often based in real experiences.<br/><br/>The second paper uses monthly data on contraceptive use and the experience of side<br/>effects from the calendar section of a longitudinal survey of women in Southern<br/>Ghana. Using life tables and a multi-level logistic discrete-time hazards model this<br/>study analyses contraceptive discontinuation and how it relates to the concurrent<br/>self-reported experience of side effects. The results show that experiencing side<br/>effects is associated with a higher probability of discontinuation of the method and<br/>that counselling from health workers is extremely important in minimizing<br/>discontinuation rates.<br/><br/>The third paper uses a sub-sample of women who are not current contraceptive<br/>users from the 2003 GDHS. The study uses multiple logistic regression to determine<br/>the association between exposure to family planning information, through mass<br/>media and interpersonal channels, and the probability that a respondent will cite fear<br/>of side effects as their main reason for not intending to use a contraceptive method in<br/>the future. The results show that the only family planning communication variable<br/>which does have a significant effect is receiving a message from a health worker<br/>which increases the odds of fear of side effects being the main reason for not<br/>intending to use a method in the future. Overall the socio-economic characteristics of<br/>those not intending to use a method in the future due to a fear of side effects is more<br/>similar to current users than to those who are not intending to use in the future for<br/>other reasons."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["text"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Three papers on side effects and modern contraceptive use among women in Ghana"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Matthews, Zoe"],"dc:creator":["Bailey, Claire Elizabeth"],"dc:date":["2009-12"],"dc:date.issued":["2009-12"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis investigates the issue of side effects and how they may act as a barrier to<br/>the use of modern contraceptive methods among women in Ghana. Three papers are<br/>presented each addressing the issue using different sources of data and different<br/>methodologies. The disparate nature of the data sources and techniques used<br/>provides each paper with its own perspective on the research question and each<br/>paper gives a unique insight into the topic.<br/><br/>The aim of the first paper is to use a qualitative focus group methodology to explore<br/>in-depth the way individuals perceive information about family planning. The study<br/>seeks to better define what is meant by the term fear of side effect in this particular<br/>social context and to determine on what information and from what sources is this<br/>fear constructed. Overall the findings of this study show that fear of side effects does<br/>act as a significant barrier to the use of temporary methods and these fears result<br/>mainly from a large amount of negative information regarding side effects being<br/>passed through the social network. However the events being recounted cannot be<br/>dismissed as myth or rumour as they are most often based in real experiences.<br/><br/>The second paper uses monthly data on contraceptive use and the experience of side<br/>effects from the calendar section of a longitudinal survey of women in Southern<br/>Ghana. Using life tables and a multi-level logistic discrete-time hazards model this<br/>study analyses contraceptive discontinuation and how it relates to the concurrent<br/>self-reported experience of side effects. The results show that experiencing side<br/>effects is associated with a higher probability of discontinuation of the method and<br/>that counselling from health workers is extremely important in minimizing<br/>discontinuation rates.<br/><br/>The third paper uses a sub-sample of women who are not current contraceptive<br/>users from the 2003 GDHS. The study uses multiple logistic regression to determine<br/>the association between exposure to family planning information, through mass<br/>media and interpersonal channels, and the probability that a respondent will cite fear<br/>of side effects as their main reason for not intending to use a contraceptive method in<br/>the future. The results show that the only family planning communication variable<br/>which does have a significant effect is receiving a message from a health worker<br/>which increases the odds of fear of side effects being the main reason for not<br/>intending to use a method in the future. Overall the socio-economic characteristics of<br/>those not intending to use a method in the future due to a fear of side effects is more<br/>similar to current users than to those who are not intending to use in the future for<br/>other reasons."],"dc:format":["text"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/166579/1/Thesis_CEB_Final.pdf"],"dc:publisher.department":["Social Statistics (pre 2011 reorg)","School of Social Sciences"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Southampton"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/166579/"],"dc:title":["Three papers on side effects and modern contraceptive use among women in Ghana"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:36:17Z"}