Misbelieves about Intra Uterine Device (IUD) in Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Objective: Despite Intra Uterine Device (IUD) has the advantage of providing long-term contraception and does not require daily attention, only %8 of Iranian women use it. This study was conducted to enhance understanding of why women in the Isfahan appear reluctant to consider IUD as a contraceptive method.
Materials and methods: It was a qualitative study that was done in Isfahan in May 2009. Five urban health centers of Isfahan city were selected randomly. In each center by purposive  opportunistically sampling, interview was done with referring women of reproductive age that had never used IUD without any contraindication by one interviewer. One to one semi-structured interviews were continued until a level of information saturationwas reached and no new themes were emerging. Each  woman's believe about IUD and her reasons for not using IUD as a contraceptive method was asked by interviewer. Also all participants were asked about the official (leaflets, health care  professionals, books and school) and unofficial (personal narratives recounted by friends and relatives) sources of their information. Eleven interviews were conducted in total. Key words in ideas of each woman were identified to develop major misconceptions about IUD use.
Results: Fear of side effects of IUD, religious believes, anxieties related to fitting of an IUD, make difficulty in intercourse and damage to fetus were the major misconceptions about IUD use. Religious believes were the most impediment factor for IUD use.
Conclusion: All of the items identified mirrored those found in other studies except the prominent worries about religious aspects of using IUD that are new and need wider exploration.