A Qualitative Study on Men’s Involvement in Reproductive Health of Women among Auto-rickshaw Drivers in Bangalore Rural

Abstract

Background: Men’s reproductive health directly affects the partner’s reproductive health. Men also may serve as gatekeepers to women’s access to reproductive health services. “Male involvement” in reproductive health and family planning programmes is not just promoting the use of male methods of contraception, but men’s supportive roles in their families. Objectives: 1. To know the attitudes of men regarding the family planning and women’s health. 2. To know the involvement and participation of men in maternity, delivery, post-natal care and family planning. 3. To study the treatment seeking behaviour of men for the reproductive health. problems. Methods: The study was conducted on the auto-rickshaw drivers in the Hoskote town. Total 96 married men were interviewed using a well-designed and pretested questionnaire. The aspects covered are awareness and practices related to RTIs/STIs/HIV/AIDS, family planning, antenatal care and treatment seeking behaviour for the reproductive health problems. Results: Majority (62.50%) of the men did not help their wives seek antenatal care. Only few 7(7.29%) were aware of parameters of antenatal care. There were 44 (45.83%) men who reported the symptoms of reproductive tract infections (RTIs). Among the men suffering from RTIs, only 32(72.73%) took treatment. Only 6(6.25%) people were aware of the all family planning methods. There were 39 (40.63%) participants having extramarital sexual relations with prostitutes or other females, of which 25(64.10%) people do not use condoms while engaging in the high risk sexual encounters. There were 34 (35.42%) men not aware of HIV/AIDS. Conclusion: Antenatal care and family planning are considered the primary responsibility of the women. Also majority of the men in the study group have high risk sexual behaviour. The awareness regarding HIV/AIDS is low.